Dark Past, New Beginning
by harry-mione
Summary: Harry, the Dark Lord, the most feared man in England, has everything he could desire; except for the one person he actually needs. Unsatisfied with his life, he travels back in time, willing to set things right, and using any means necessary. HHr
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Another time travel story, but not your typical one. This time, it's not your regular Harry that goes back in time because everything's gone wrong; this time, it's Harry Potter, the new Dark Lord that goes back, because he's finally realized the one thing he was missing: Hermione Granger. HHr

**Dreaded Author's notes: **

So you all probably want to kill me for not updating Second Chance. I swear I do not plan on abandoning it, but I've come to a standstill, and I've got this new idea in my head that just NEEDED to be set free. Don't worry, I will update this one story much more regularly than I did for Second Chance, and I've already gotten ahead a few chapters.

This is AU, and there are no horcruxes. The concept never really appealed to me, so it follows canon up to fifth year, and then the timeline diverged drastically, which will be explained later on. There will be some Dumbledore and Ron bashing as well, so you've been warned.

I like to read stories where Harry goes back in time, but he always acts all concerned about not changing the timeline, not showing how powerful he is, hiding his knowledge; and it gets tiring. So in this one, Harry the Dark Lord comes back, so he actually has a backbone, won't hesitate to act to get what he wants, and relishes in having people see just how powerful he is.

(BTW- I apologize for any errors in grammar. As I've mentioned before, English isn't my first language.)

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It had been a few months now, since Harry had commissioned the job to that wannabee death eater, Johnston, and he was getting impatient. It was supposedly going to be finished by today, he'd been assured of it. But then again, people would always tell lies to save their own skin, to buy some time…

Really, how long did it take to brew a simple potion, anyway? Granted, it had never been done before, but still…

Now, if Hermione had been there; she would've finished it in a matter of days, if not hours. But really, no one could compare with her, _no one. _Like so many other times, the ghost of a tear tried to appear upon his face, but he wouldn't let it. No, he would be strong. He would go on until he finished his task, and then everything would be all right. He'd be back with her, no worries, and _no one _would _ever _take her away again.

One of the lesser minions knocked on the door and approached Harry.

_It'd better be good news _thought Harry _Or else a cruciatus may be in order. _

"Mmaa… maa-master" stammered the idiotic little man "The potion… it's, it's ready, sir."

"Good" answered Harry, his tone neutral, as always "Tell that Johnston idiot I'll be there in a second. I just need to… do a few things."

"Y…yes, sir" cried the little man, as he hurriedly made his way out.

_Finally ,_thought Harry, _The day has finally come._ And for the first time in six years, four months and seven days, a smile lit his face.

He was twenty-four years old, and already, the most powerful and feared man in England.

He had killed Voldemort at nineteen, as well as his closest followers, then went on to take full control of the ministry of magic, without any trouble at all. The people hailed him as the defeater of Voldemort, as their savior; and Voldemort's former followers, fearful for their own lives, all turned to his side. 

He had absolute power and riches. Women threw themselves at his feet. So why did he not enjoy it? Why was it that no matter how much he had, he could never smile? The answer was simple: Hermione Granger was not by his side.

It had taken him long to realize it, far too long. But as the months had passed by during the War, and he'd watched all of his friends die or betray him; he'd become increasingly aware of just how much he appreciated having Hermione remain by his side. How much he needed her. It had not taken long for Ron to betray them, being lured by power and a chance to save his own hide, just like Wormtail had once been. But Hermione had remained by his side, through thick and thin, and one day, as he'd woken up beside her, in the dingy, tiny room that they shared in hiding, he'd realized that he had fallen deeply and irrevocably in love with her.

But he'd been too weak then, too puny and scared of rejection. He'd let life go on, without ever revealing his feelings… and then she had been killed.

He'd watched thousands others die by then, had become insensitive to their screams, their suffering. But Hermione's death pushed him over the edge.

From that day on, he hated himself for being weak, for not being strong enough to protect her, and most of all, for not telling her how he really felt.

From that point on, everything had changed, and, within months, Voldemort was defeated. Dumbledore had been wrong. It wasn't love that would help him defeat Voldemort, it was hatred.

His first act as minister of magic had then been to pass forward a law that increased the rights of house elves and other magical creatures. With these laws, most house elves now had more power than their former owners. He then fired every single pureblood from any position of even relative power, and replaced them all with half-bloods and muggleborns.

He longed to satisfy the growing loneliness he felt, the growing hole in his heart, by honoring her wishes, all that which she once sought to achieve. But as time went on, he discovered that he couldn't. That no matter what he did, that loneliness he felt would only increase. He really could not live without her. So he'd devised a plan.

During her last months of life, and because of all the people they had lost, Hermione had turned to reading books on dark magic. A few of them gave her an idea, and she sought to do what no one other had ever done before: revive the dead. After months of research and work, however, they concluded that it just couldn't be done. Nonetheless, inadvertently, they'd created a ritual that, according to their calculations, with a few minor changes, could reverse back time, but allowing them to keep their memories intact. But they'd been too stupid, too noble to do so.

_It could have terrible consequences. It's not right to mess with time, _he'd said back then; and she'd agreed.

He regretted this decision every day now, but it didn't matter. Now that he was in power, he could do whatever he wished. He'd finished the modifications for the ritual, perfected it completely. His only problem had been getting a good potions brewer. It had to be the very best. Johnston had come in then, and everything was set. Granted, it had taken much longer than he'd hoped for, but soon, he'd have all the time he needed.

As Harry made his way down the marble staircase, he reviewed his plan in his head, already anxious to see his Hermione again. But really, it was a simple plan. He would go back in time to the beginning of his fourth year, enjoy life, get Hermione as his girlfriend, wait until he won the Triwizards Tournament, and then kill Voldemort when he portkeyed to the cemetery with Cedric. Really, as if Wormtail and that cheap little imitation of a human could subdue him now. Granted, it was not the most complex of plans, but it didn't matter; either way, it would be easy enough to kill Voldemort; it was the least of his worries; all he cared about was seeing Hermione again. Would she accept being his girlfriend? Did she care for him that way? That's been the only reason he chose fourth year to go back, really. It would have been easier to just go back to his first year and kill Voldemort straight out before he had the least bit of power, but then he'd have to go through the whole process of befriending Hermione again, and frankly, he didn't have the patience for that. This way, they would already have three years of friendship behind them, and it would make it that much easier to win her heart.

She would be his. Hopefully willingly, and if not… well, there were plenty of ways to make her love him.

Harry stopped his musings as he reached the door to Johnston's study. It was time.

He opened the door and the pudgy little man stood there, looking obviously pleased with himself, as well as relieved. Harry approached the cauldron that stood in a corner. He had no way of telling whether the potion had been brewed properly or not, but it didn't matter. In the worst of cases, he would die, instead of traveling back, but a life without his Hermione was not worth it anyway. Although he did enjoy his power, and making people cower beneath him. It was a welcome change from all those years of abuse, all those years being a weakling… but no, it wasn't worth it without his Hermione.

"It's… it's ready, master" stated Johnston.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I can see that, Johnston. And it better work."

"Oh, yes it will, master, I made sure of it. I followed your instructions perfectly, word for word."

Harry smiled sardonically "Good, then. Everything is set. There's only one thing missing." As he said these words, he turned towards Johnston, the grin upon his face now menacing.

"Wha….what is it, master?"

"As if you didn't know" smirked the young man, and aimed his wife at his lackey.

"Sectumsempra!"

Johnston fell to the floor, wheezing and gasping for breath, in a pool of his own blood. Unmoved, Harry proceeded to use this blood to draw a circle on the floor. He grabbed a flask of the potion and stepped right in the middle, over the struggling man's body. He wasn't dead just yet, and was begging for mercy. As if it would do him any good. Thinking of the time he wanted to go back to, he drank the foul liquid, fighting the urge to gag. Soon, he'd be with her again.

"Tempus a priori!" Harry exclaimed, and vanished into thin air.

A voice was calling to him. The sweetest voice. For a moment, he even wondered whether he had died and gone to heaven… he really should go to hell, he knew, after all the atrocities he had commited; but surely this voice could only belong to an angel?

"Harry! Harry! What's wrong with you?"

And it was so familiar too. So melodic. He could listen to it, forever. He was so calm, so peaceful... until a pair of strong, rough hands grabbed him by the shoulders, and he was unceremoniously shaken. Really, the nerve of his subordinates! And just as he was having such a pleasant dream! Oh, the cruciatus would come in handy tonight. How dare anybody touch him! He hadn't let anybody touch him in years. Not since she'd been gone.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, but was taken aback by his surroundings. What was this? This wasn't Potter Manor. It seemed strangely familiar, though, like a memory from a dream…

"Harry, my boy! Thank God you're all right!" the voice startled him; a deep, male voice he hadn't heard in years. He turned around, and gasped at what he saw. There was Arthur Weasley, surrounded by the whole Weasley crew. Ron, Ginny, the twins… But instead of feeling happiness, an emotion that was now foreign to him anyways, he felt a deep anger. Ron had betrayed him… Ginny had once tried to douse him with a love potion…It took all of his self-control not to grab his wand and give them what they deserved. But no, he'd learned not to act rashly. He would leave them alive… for now; and then he would make them pay. Slowly, torturously.

And that's when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, making it almost painful to breathe. A nest of bushy brown hair clouded his vision, and suddenly, like a flash, everything came back to him. It had worked! He was back! Back where he belonged. A lonely tear made its way down his cheek, the first one in seven years. Wiping it away quickly, he held on tight to the girl in his arms, never wanting to let go.

Hermione was just as beautiful as he remembered her to be, if not more so. Her beautiful chocolate eyes, that soft complexion, those lips that were just begging to be kissed by him. He wondered how he'd never noticed it before, and felt a newfound respect for Viktor Krum. He'd been the first one to approach Hermione, and that made him a genius in Harry's eyes. Not that this would matter, though. Hermione was his, and if Viktor dear tried to interfere… well, Quidditch accidents were not all that uncommon.

An unwelcome shrilly voice startled him from his moment of ecstasy, and he was once again tempted to kill everybody just so he could have a few moments alone with his Hermione.

"Harry, I am so glad you're okay!" cried out Ginny, approaching him, almost as if expecting a hug as well. As if he would dirty himself with her! No one was allowed to touch him except his Hermione.

Quickly catching on, Harry tried to act the part of the confused teenager "Wha… where am I? What happened?"

Hermione began to extract herself from his, as if planning to explain, but he would not let her. Taking advantage of his supposed confusion, Harry pretended to stand up and stumble, grabbing unto Hermione forcefully and falling down with her on top of him. She then proceeded to stand up, but allowed him to rest up against him. Then, facing towards him (her face was only inches from his, and he could swear he saw a tiny blush appear. He smiled inwardly. This was a good sign).

"We're at the Quidditch Cup, Harry. We just arrived here by Portkey, and it seems that it didn't suit all that well with you. You passed out shortly after landing… we were worried, you know."

His heart beat just a bit faster at the mention of her, worrying over him. He grabbed on to her just a little tighter.

"Yeah, mate!" interrupted Ron "We were bloody scared! Good thing you're all right now, and you can let go of Hermione if you want to. No need to cling on to her, you know."

_Shut your bloody mouth or I'll do it for you! _, hissed Harry mentally, but limited himself to saying, "Umm… I'm still not feeling all that well, mate. I think I'll hold on to her just a bit more. If you don't mind, Hermione, that is."

"Of course not, Harry. We can't have you falling down again, can we?" she stated in that bossy tone that he loved so much. Oh, how he'd missed her.

"Are you sure, Harry? I mean, I could help you too, you know. So that it won't be as hard on Hermione." This was stated by the little redhead whore, as Harry liked to call her, but was thankfully saved by Hermione's reply, "Nonsense, Ginny. I am more than capable of helping Harry along, so don't trouble yourself."

Harry could swear that, as she said this, she tightened his hold on him, almost possessively, and this was a very welcome action on her part. It was enough encouragement for him. He was assertive now, the most powerful man in England… at least in a few years' time he would be, and he would always get what he wanted. Starting today, he would commence to woo Hermione. And really, what girl wouldn't fall at his feet? Not that any other girl actually mattered, of course. All he wanted was Hermione.

A few minutes later they had arrived at the camping site, and settled in the magical tent. Arthur told everyone they could go out and see the stands until the game began, and everybody soon took him up on the offer. Harry claimed he wanted to spend a bit more time unpacking and stayed behind, and he took the opportunity to think and sit by himself. The first thing he did was look at himself in the mirror, and did not like what he saw. He was a short and scrawny fourteen-year old, product of years of malnourishment at the Dursley's. Coming from a future where he was tall and ripped after years of intense exercise, it came as quite a shock. He'd forgotten just how much of a weakling he used to be; and he refused to remain like this. He wanted Hermione to fall dead at his feet, after all. And he hated appearing weak.

During their time on the run, Hermione had developed a modification for a rare spell. Using it, they were able to accelerate their physical appearance, without actually subtracting years from their biological clock. This came in quite handy when they traveled in the muggle world, with no identification, and being underaged.

Harry concentrated, feeling the waves of magic surge inside him. He'd been doing wandless and silent magic for years now, but he wondered whether he would be capable of it in his "new" body. It took a bit more effort than usual, but he started to feel a change, and saw his body visibly enlarge, until his trousers became a few inches too small for him. Outwardly, he was now sixteen years old, bordering on seventeen. He'd had a big growth spurt that year, so he was now much taller. Inspecting his body in the mirror, he frowned at his lack of muscle mass. He would have to start training again as soon as he could, but meanwhile, he concentrated again, and felt his muscles develop a bit. He was nowhere near as ripped as he used to be… or would soon be (depending on how you saw it), but he now had a very decent, athletic body.

Transfiguring his clothes to make them fit him more appropriately, and then counting the money he had on him, he left the tent, intent on finding Hermione. As he walked, though, it occurred to him that it might look a bit strange for a teenage boy to grow several inches in a few minutes, so he cast a charm on himself that would affect people's memories. The Weasleys and Hermione would not remember having seen him as a little boy just moments before, and would assume that he'd had a considerable growth spurt during the summer.

It did not take him long to find Hermione, or the rest. Much to his chagrin, though, she was with Ginny, admiring a magical rose from one of the vendors. Harry silently cast a compelling charm on the redhead whore, causing her to leave abruptly, insisting that Hermione should stay, instead of going with her. Shrugging, the bushy-haired girl did just that, and looked wistfully at the rose.

"Hey there, Hermione" his voice had changed as well, he now noticed. It was deeper, huskier. He liked it.

She glanced up, startled, and, for a moment, seemed confused to see him, but soon relaxed; a very noticeable blush unable to leave her face, though. "Oh, Harry, you gave me a fright! I could barely recognize you, you know. You grew so much during the summer, you look much older now."

He laughed and replied "I could say the same about you. Although in your case, it doesn't matter, you're still as beautiful as ever."

Harry had to struggle not to laugh at Hermione's reaction, for she'd opened her mouth wide, and was blinking rapidly, "You didn't mean that."

He frowned, "Au contraire, ma Cherie. Of course I do", he leaned in closer, until he was able to smell the faint scent of strawberries, courtesy of whatever shampoo she used "Now, tell me; what is that?"

She allowed the vendor to explain, instead of answering herself, "This" stated the man "Is a very rare enchanted rose. It shall never wilt, nor does it require water or anything of the sort. It feeds off a person's emotions. If it is held by someone who is feeling sad, it shall turn blue, pink is happy, red passionate, green is jealous, white is peaceful, black is angry and revengeful… and if each of its petals turns a different color, then it means that person is in love. It has… other uses as well, but those, you must discover for yourselves. As I told you, and as you can see for yourself, it is very very rare, which is why its price is so high."

"Do you like it then, Hermione?" asked Harry, his face an expressionless mask.

Her smile faded a little, "Oh yes, Harry, it's very nice, but it's much too expensive; more than my parents have me for this whole trip!"

"How much?"

"50 galleons. I accept muggle money as well, and I believe that would be the equivalent of 750 pounds."

Harry did a quick mental math. He had a total of 100 pounds with him, which, he supposed, his younger counterpart had taken out for the whole school year. But he didn't plan on surviving on that meager amount alone. He was planning on apparating the next day to Gringotts, and reclaiming his inheritance as heir of the House of Potter. As he'd reached the legal age of seventeen, he'd learned that the vault he always got money from was his trust vault alone. He had enough wealth on the main Potter vault to last a lifetime, enough to be emancipated; something which he would have loved to know about before, so that he wouldn't have had to endure all those years with the Dursleys. 50 pounds was a pittance. He received more money _daily _from interest alone. Not to mention all the businesses that he owned, which continued to operate despite having no Potter in command.

"Wrap it up, I'll take it" he said without flinching.

The man's eyes glowed with greed, and he eagerly accepted the golden coins. Hermione, for her part, was rendered speechless, and Harry could not help but smirk. _Just wait, my queen, this is nothing compared to all that I will give you. You will never want for anything, as long as you're by my side. And you will be by my side. You will __**always **__be by my side. _

And of course, Hermione, being who she is, started to adamantly protest, stating that it was much too expensive, that he couldn't possible spend that amount on her. Harry was quick to shush her, of course.

"Hermione, you do not know this, but I have more wealth than I could possibly need in my life. For me, 50 pounds is a pittance, and I would willingly spend much more to make you happy. So please take it, will you?"

Even with these reassurances, it was hard to get Hermione to accept the darn rose, which frustrated Harry to no end. Threatening that she had to take it, or else he would just buy it anyways and throw it away, she relented, and thanked him profusely afterward.

"Thank you so much, Harry! I... I don't know how to thank you, really. Anything I can do for you, anything. Just tell me and I'll do it, okay?"

_Don't say those kinds of things, Hermione, t_hought Harry, _or I might take you up on the offer. And believe me, what I want to do with you is very naughty. _But who could blame the boy, really? Despite being the most sought-after bachelor in the wizarding world, he refused to get close to any girl after the death of Hermione. He would not sullen himself with anyone else. As such, he had years of repressed sexual frustration that needed to be released. He hadn't ever had a decent kiss, for crying out loud! Cho did NOT count. He was glad, though, because then he could lose his virginity with Hermione. And he would take hers, of course. He would be her very first everything. He would make sure of that. _Nobody _else could ever touch her.

The vendor handed her the rose, wrapped up in delicate paper, and advised her not to open it until she was alone. It could be embarrassing to reveal her feelings so openly.

Once this was done, the two teens walked around. Deciding that, after so many years of contact-deprivation he deserved to at least hold Hermione's hand, he did just that. She was startled, but did not let go, and limited herself to wondering just what was wrong with him. Not that he cared, as long as he could touch her. And then, of course, the idiotic duo (eg- Ron backstabber and Ginny Whore Weasley) arrived, and Harry had to cast a notice-me not charm on them so that they wouldn't notice. Hermione was obviously very confused because of their lack of reaction, but let it slide.

Unfortunately, the idiotic and very much unwelcome duo stuck to them the whole time, until the match finally began. Of course, as soon as the veelas appeared, Ron had to be practically bound to his chair to keep from falling off and chasing after them. It seemed that every single male had some sort of reaction, at least a small one, except for Harry, something which amazed both Hermione and Ginny to no end.

"Harry, how is it that you don't seem affected by them?" asked Hermione, bewildered.

"Not interested" he answered simply "I've got my eyes set on a much more beautiful girl than all of them combined. Heck, they don't even deserve to be classified in the same category as her."

"Really? Oh… I didn't know you were so much in love. It's… it's Cho, isn't it? Don't worry, I'll help you with her. Shouldn't be a problem, though, I mean, with how you look and all that…"

Harry could see the dejection in her eyes; and could not tell whether to be happy, amused, or irritated. Really, for the smartest witch in her year, she could be surprisingly dense at times. And really, what was with the low self-confidence? Couldn't she see just how beautiful she was? Sighing, he decided to let it be, for now, and let the comment slide. But then, of course, out came Krum and the whole team, and the quidditch match began. And Harry, focusing on Hermione instead of the game, managed to notice the tiniest, practically invincible, but nonetheless very much present, glint in her eyes as Krum was announced; and this, believe it or not, was more than enough to spark his jealousy. Really! He'd always believed Krum had sought her out with no encouragement on her part, but this… perhaps she had not been immune to his charm and fine, as he'd always assumed she was. Hermione was just better at hiding it than the rest of the girls. Not from him, though. The nerve of the girl! To sigh over anyone other than himself! He'd show her!

Casting another silent notice-me not charm, this one enveloping them completely, he literally hauled Hermione off the stands, and outside the pitch, finding a secluded spot amidst the woods.

Hermione, of course, not appreciating the rather rough way she was handled, snatched her hand away as soon as she could, and proceeded to shout, "What the hell is wrong with you, Harry! Dragging me off in the middle of the match! And without telling anyone! What has gotten into you?"

Having no patience for her ramblings, especially after seeing her sigh over another man that wasn't him, he calmly answered, his voice completely even "Hermione, what do you think of Viktor Krum?"

She obviously did not expect this question, and blushed almost imperceptibly; but Harry noticed, of course. "I…I, well, I don't know him or anything, but he is pretty charming, I guess. There must be a reason so many girls go after him, right? And he is rather handsome.

Rather handsome? RATHER HANDSOME?! CHARMING!?!? Oh, she was in for it. Screw all his good intentions of wooing her or whatever. She was HIS! And she would be his, whether she wanted it or not.

"Wrong answer, Hermione" he hissed, and with this; he pressed her up against a tree and roughly pressed her lips against his own, wasting no time in demanding entrance. He was not gentle, and did not intend to be. This was her first kiss, and technically his first as well, but he did not care about being romantic and tender. He just wanted to mark her as his own. If his feelings had been a tiny bit less than they were, he would have even raped her then and there. Unfortunately, he was much too in love with her to do so. She was the only person he would show consideration to, and as such, he settled for ravaging her mouth, giving her a taste of what was to come.

Hermione, frozen in shock at first, took several seconds to react. But she did not push him away, like he'd expected her to. He wanted to believe that she was attracted to him, but he still was not prepared for her to actually respond. She was hesitant at first, but she soon began moaning against his mouth… which made him assume he was doing something right. It wasn't like he had much experience, after all. But there was an instinct guiding him; a thirst he did not know he possessed. Unable to stop his wandering hand, he let it slide under her shirt, and caressed the sensitive skin on her belly, making her cry out. He smirked against her lips. Innocent little Hermione wasn't as innocent as she appeared, or else, she wouldn't be encouraging him this way. Growing tired of her lips, he made his way down, pressing his lips against her neck. He kept on his rough handling; not caring if he let a hickey. On the contrary, he wanted to. It would be his mark over her. Something to tell the world to back off. Hermione was his, and only his.

"Oh…oh Harry!" she gasped, and this encouraged him enough to let his hand wander up even more, until it came dangerously close to her chest. The half-time whistle that resounded across the woods shocked him back to reality, and while he could care less for social decorum and other people, he did respect Hermione, and wanted their first time to be special. If he continued, especially with the way she kept encouraging him, he wouldn't stop even if she begged him to, and the thought bothered him. He'd wait a few weeks, and then the room of requirement would come in handy. Besides, they didn't have enough time right now for him to do everything he wanted to do to her. He needed several hours for that, if not all night. He smiled inwardly, already picturing all the things they would do together.

So, rather reluctantly, he pulled away, encountering a heaving Hermione, whose eyes were glazed over; and who, after the daze wore off, looked thoroughly confused.

"What… what just happened between us?"

Harry smirked, pressing his mouth against her ear and whispering to her "You shouldn't tease me this way, Hermione. Talking that way of other men. It makes me jealous, don't you see?"

"What… what do you mean?"

"It means, Hermione" explained Harry "That I want you to be mine and only mine. I want you to be my girlfriend. Will you?"

"This… this is all so sudden, Harry. I mean, we've always been best friends. To be something more…"

Not in the mood for games (he was still disappointed for having to cut short his ever so pleasant make-out session; really, he cursed that tiny little noble side of him that was still left. Well, at least it only showed itself with Hermione; he could care less what happened to the rest of the world), Harry cut her off, "Hermione, we've known each other for three years; I trust you more than anybody else, and I know you feel the same for me. And really, if all you had to me were platonic feelings, you wouldn't have kissed me back like that. Cause if that was a platonic kiss to you, I really hope you don't have any brothers or sisters, cause that, my dear Hermione, is called incest, and it is frowned upon on most civilized parts of the world…"

"Harry!"

"It's the truth, Hermione!" he answered defensively. He leaned down once again, staring intently into her eyes. Hermione shivered slightly, at having a pair of emerald eyes regarding her with such intensity. "Tell me you didn't feel anything, Hermione" his breath tickled her lips, "Tell me you don't want me to kiss you again. Tell me you didn't like it, and we'll just go on as friends. Nothing will change. Just tell you didn't feel anything."

Seeing her lack of response, Harry grinned, "I thought so" and kissed her again.


	2. Chapter 2

New Chapter. Thanks for reading the previous one. I just want to point out now, that Harry will seem rather OOC in some parts, in case you hadn0t noticed it in the previous chapter, but this is all due to the fact that he is, well, a very dark Harry who had a taste of absolute power in the previous timeline… and enjoyed it. That, and he is Hermione-obsessed. Don't get me wrong, he genuinely loves her, but has developed an almost unhealthy obsession with her. She's just about the only person he cares about.

"Can you believe the way that Krum caught that snitch!? It was incredible. Mate, how can you not be more excited about it? And you, Hermione, didn't you see that, that poetry in motion?"

"Krum… Krum who?" Hermione was still dazed from the kissing, as Harry had made sure she would be thinking only of him, and no one else. He couldn't help but smirk as he heard her answer.

"Bloody hell, Hermione! How can you ask that?" exclaimed Ron, dismayed.

Harry and Hermione had joined the group at the very end of the match, and, thanks to the notice-me-not charms, the rest hadn't noticed. Hermione, still too dazed after the kissing session, didn't even think to question their lack of interest. They were now walking back to the tents, and the whole Weasley family was rambling on about the match, while Harry and Hermione remained silent; casting sideways glances at each other.

For the first time in seven years, Harry felt completely, and irrevocably happy. Really, there he'd been, expecting to dedicate the next few months of his life towards wooing Hermione, and he'd gotten her as his girlfriend in a day's time! But he wouldn't rest, however. He knew that this year Krum and Ron would start showing interest in her, and he did not plan on sharing. He would not be at peace, in fact, until she had a ring around her finger, and she was forever joined to him. Well, he also had to kill Voldemort, of course, but his priorities had to be in order.

Thinking of Voldemort, he was suddenly reminded of the fact that a bunch of deatheaters were scheduled to attack tonight. He briefly contemplated letting things happen just like they did the first time, then decided against it. Really, what would be the fun of going back in time if he didn't take advantage of it and experiment? He then contemplated defeating the deatheaters secretly, and images of a masked superhero filled his head. But really, why should he hide his powers? Let Voldemort and the world see just how powerful he was, perhaps then they would learn not to treat him like a child.

After having to listen to Ron ramble on incessantly, and showing tremendous amounts of willpower by not shutting him up permanently (lucky for the backstabbing bastard, he'd had a good day), it was finally time to sleep. And, knowing he would be woken up just in time anyway, he fell into a peaceful slumber. Unfortunately for the deatheaters, Harry had been in the middle of a particularly pleasant dream involving a certain bushy-haired witch and strawberries, so when he was woken up, he did not feel all that forgiving. The nerve of those people! Waking him up in the most inconvenient of times!

He was surprised, however, to see that it was not Mr. Weasley who'd woken him up this time, but his now girlfriend, Hermione Granger. Feigning innocence, he asked:

"Hermione? What's going on?"

"Oh Harry!" she exclaimed "Wake up, quickly!"

"Wha…why?"

"There's no time! There're death-eaters outside, Harry! Mr. Weasley told me to go outside while he warned the rest, but I simply couldn't leave while you were still here!"

Harry had to restrain the urge to do a victory dance, and quickly gathered his things. He noticed that, since he hadn't even taken out his wand at all during the day, and kept it close to him, he actually had it. Not that it mattered anyway; wandless magic was so much easier once you learned to do it, but at least that wannabee deatheater wouldn't use it to plant the dark mark overhead.

Holding Hermione's hand in his, they stepped outside, even before the rest of the Weasleys did. The group of deatheaters was there, levitating the muggles in the air, subjecting them to humiliation. Harry had to fight the urge to roll his eyes, and struggled to appear fearful. But really, attacking some defenseless muggles? And nobody doing anything to stop them? Really, dozens of wizards and witches against a handful of deatheaters, how dumb and cowardly could you get? The worst part was that most of them weren't even running, just watching the scene with a mix of fright and morbid fascination. Well, if they wanted a show, he'd give them one.

"Harry! What are you doing?!" Hermione held on to his hand, even as he approached the group of men.

"Stay back, Hermione" hissed Harry "I'll be done in a moment."

"Get done with what, Harry? You're going to get yourself killed, that's what's going to happen, and I don't plan to sit by idly and watch!"

Her grip on his hand did not lessen, and he sighed, but was still inwardly pleased. This was the loyal, fierce, determined Hermione he'd come to love; and he wouldn't have her any other way. Besides, it's not like anything could happen to her as long as she was with him. He would protect her.

The whole camp seemed to go still, as the two teens stood right in front of the group of hooded figures, who had now let go of their victims, rather disconcerted by the appearance of a certain boy-who-lived. Nobody dared move, and Harry, was the first to speak, "So Lucius, how's the home life treating you? Too bad your son can't be with you, right? Might have been nice to have some family bonding time, but well, I'm sure he's hiding around here somewhere, watching his daddy torture a bunch of defenseless people."

A collective gasp came from the crowd, as the name of such an important man was mentioned so casually, and by the boy-who-lived, nonetheless. It did not take long for a hooded figure to step forward, no doubt a certain Malfoy, and hiss, "You'll pay, Potter. It'll be such a pleasure to kill the acclaimed savior of the wizarding world" then, he called out, "Crucio!"

Hermione flinched instinctually, but Harry merely pulled up his hand, and a visible blue light enveloped the both of them, preventing the curse from hitting them. Unfortunately, he had to let go of it quickly. As powerful as he still remained, this body didn't possess quite as much stamina and power as he was used to having, but it was definitely enough to get rid of the little pests. This spectacle, of course, had every witch and wizard glued to the spot, not believing their eyes. _Let them watch, then _thought Harry _Let them see that I'm not to be messed with. Let them fear my power. _

Deciding that a little dramatism could come in handy, he summoned a gust of wind, and his eyes emitted a deep, green glow. It was all purely for aesthetic purposes, of course, but they didn't have to know that. He grabbed Hermione close to him, she had a very confused look on her face, but Harry merely smiled, reassuring her.

The deatheaters were taken aback by this display, but soon proceeded to fire off spell after spell, all of which were easily deflected by Harry with a wave of his hand. Deciding that he'd put on enough of a show, he took the offensive, and with another motion of his hand, all the deatheaters levitated off the ground, struggling around. What Harry did not expect was for one to quickly gather his bearings, and take advantage of the moment to aim a spell at Harry, which would have hit him, had Hermione not interfered.

"Defendio!" she shouted, and the spell bounced off. It was strong enough to shake her somewhat, but no damage was really done. Harry was thankful that the girl he loved happened to be such a brilliant witch. Really, she was the only one suitable for him.

Deciding that a repeat of the incident would not be all that welcome, he summoned all of their wands, grasping them in his hand, then let all of the hooded figures fall to the ground… from a considerable distance to the floor. He was too drained to use his wandless magic on all of them, after all that (which bothered him. In the previous timeline, all this would have seem like child's play to him), but he grabbed one of the wands and used it to cast an incarcerous on them all, binding them together. He was a bit disappointed, even. He'd expected them to put up more of a fight, but maybe it was for the best. He was a lot weaker than he used to be, and he couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. Turning around, he saw the whole crowd, staring at him, open-mouthed, and had to suppress the urge to smirk. It didn't take long for them to recover, however, and a few of them started clapping, spreading the excitement until cheers could be heard from everyone, with shouts of "The savior of the wizarding world!" and "The boy-who-lived!" ringing among them.

He noted with morbid amusement that these same persons who were now cheering for him, would betray him just as quickly, if the opportunity called for it, and a wave of disgust overcame him. But no matter; the only person who's opinion he cared about was Hermione's, and she was now his girlfriend (and really, if it were up to him, she'd just as soon be his wife). Besides, whatever they felt for him was irrelevant; they would all eventually come to rever his as a God, or if not, well, fear him very much. He pondered leaving quickly to go in search for Barty Crouch Jr., who might be hiding in the woods or something, since he'd botched his attempt to establish the Dark Mark, but was prevented from doing so by the arrival of the Aurors, followed by Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman. How convenient for them, to arrive right after everything had been taken care of.

Of course, the first reaction of the newly arrived was to stare in shock at the bunch of cloaked figures, lying on the ground and tied up. A young auror, who later presented himself as Tom Handall, was the first one to regain his senses; and , sensing how everyone's attention seemed to be directed towards the two teens , approached them.

"Would… would you care to explain what happened here?"

"Sure" replied Harry "These men were attacking innocent muggles; nobody was doing anything about it, so I took action and incapacitated them. Feel free to take them now and get them into Azkaban, or whatever."

Crouch, who was not far behind, heard this reply and exclaimed "Nonsense! As if a single boy could take care of a whole group of deathetaers by himself! Now, tell us the truth kid."

"You are right, I did not do it by myself" replied Harry, but Crouch's mocking grin soon fell off once again, "Hermione here helped me. And I don't care if you believe me or not. There are dozens of witnesses right here" as he said this, he pointed towards the crowd that kept surrounding them, "You can just ask them, if you want."

Harry's statement was followed by further cries of, "Our savior!", as well as cheers, leaving no doubts as to the truth. Bagman and Crouch grumbled, and it looked as if Crouch was about to add something else, when he was stopped By Arthur Weasley, who approached both kids, shock quite evident on his face.

He told them to join the rest of the Weasleys, while he stayed behind in order to fix a few things with the Aurors; and, just as was expected, not only were Harry and Hermione practically assaulted on their way back, but also mauled by the red-headed teens, once they'd gone back into the tent.

Harry was not sure how to explain his obvious increase in magical power, and decided to answer simply: he had studied during the summer, his powers had improved considerably, and that was that. Granted, all of his words were coated with a compulsion charm, but whatever, the important part was that they believed him. Hermione, though, seemed the tiniest bit skeptical, though she did not express her doubts out loud. _Of course _though Harry _Leave it to Hermione to be the only one able to slightly resist my compulsion. No matter, if things get out of hand, I'll just have to be a bit more forceful. I hope I don't have to, though. _

Claiming he was tired from the day's events, he went back to his room, but instead of sleeping, concentrated on his next move. He'd felt much too weak during the fight. Granted, he'd still been able to easily defeat the deatheaters, and freakishly powerful, but his overall power had been much greater as a twenty-five year old; heck, even at nineteen. Something did not feel right. It was almost as if something was blocking him, making him unable to access his full potential (which was considerable), and he had a nagging suspicion that he knew what it was. He decided to test his theory the next day, when he snuck out to visit Gringotts. As well as getting his emancipation, he needed to sort out a few other things, such as his title as Lord Potter, which he'd only learned he held once he'd become of age. Not even then, actually. He'd never stopped to pay attention to his account until Voldemort was defeated. Once that was done, and he was ruler of Britain, he0d found out that his family already possessed quite some standing in the Wizengamot, as well as a VERY vast fortune and properties.

At what time would he be able to slip out without being noticed, though? He pondered this briefly, but decided to wait until the next day and see when the opportunity presented itself. H e would just apparate over there. It wasn't like anybody would suppose him capable of doing such a thing. With these thoughts in mind, he drifted off to sleep, his dreams occupied by the image of a certain bushy-haired witch. And whipped cream. And other…stuff. He really needed to get his lust under control. Otherwise, it'd drive him mad!

----

The next morning he woke up rather early, planning on perhaps an early-morning escape. This plan was ruined, though, by the presence of Hermione, sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast already. H e did not mind, though, since, it was, of course, his dear Hermione. So he sat down beside her and proceeded to talk with her. She seemed a bit pensive, and, after a while, he asked her what was going on.

She fidgeted, biting her bottom lip, which only increased Harry's already burning desire to kiss her lips, "So much happened yesterday, Harry" she began, "It's hard to take it all in. First, whatever it is that happened with us. Then, your little display of power. It's… overwhelming, seems a bit hard to believe that you could change so much in one year. I mean, you were always good, and powerful, Harry, don0t get me wrong, but that… that was just…."

_Shit!_ Thought Harry _I knew it. The girl is too smart for her own good. She didn't fall for my compulsion charm. Quick, quick! Think, Potter, think. You've had no scruples for the last seven years, you should just put her under the Imperius and that's that. But... then she wouldn't be MY Hermione…_

It was as he was sorting through his internal ramblings, though, that the first part of their conversation dawned on him: "whatever it is that happened between us". What did she mean by that? Wasn't it obvious? It suddenly struck him that she'd never actually answered his question. She'd hesitated, and then Harry had assaulted her mouth, and she responded, but she never uttered a positive answer. Harry felt like his whole world was collapsing around him.

"What… what do you mean?" he sounded weak, like a small child again, and he hated it, but could not help it "Weren't… didn't… aren't you my girlfriend?"

He sounded so unsure of himself, so insecure, he could hardly recognize himself.

Hermione stammered, seeming not to have expected his answer, "You mean…" she began, "You really meant it?"

Harry looked at her like she was crazy. And to him, she was. How could he not have meant it? Sensing Harry's questioning look, Hermione continued "I… I thought you might… I don't know. I don't know what took over you. It was so out of the blue. At first I thought it'd all been a dream. But then, when I woke up this morning and realized that it wasn't, I couldn't help but think that you… I mean, it doesn't matter, Harry. You don't have to feel tied down to me because of what happened yesterday, I won't blame you for it."

Harry's questioning gaze did not waver… really, what was the girl rambling on about?

"I mean" she continued "I know you've had a crush on Cho for a while now. And with how you've grown, how you look this year… well, she'd be a fool not to go out with you. All the girls in the castle, probably, will be fighting for you. So you don't have to feel tied down to your bushy-haired, know-it all bookworm of a best friend, just because of something you didn't even mean."

For the first time in a long time, Harry was able to see the insecure little child that Hermione hid so well, behind her strong and bossy personality. She was fiercely loyal, brave and independent; but deep down, she still harbored a lot of insecurities because of her childhood. Harry knew she'd had trouble making friends.

Really, she could be so dense sometimes. Couldn't she see how pretty she was? Ha, as if he'd ever let her go. The concept was simply laughable. No one else would ever be allowed to take her. She was his and only his, just like he was hers and only hers.

He held her chin up, since she'd begun to look down towards the floor, sometime in their conversation, and kissed her. This time, he _tried _to be gentle (key word being tried), to show her how much he cared. But his passion could not be held back, and he soon had her pressed against the kitchen wall, moaning his name, one leg hooked around his waist.

"Hermione" he breathed against her lips; his voice was husky, ragged "Do you really think I'd possibly want anyone else? Don't you see what you do to me?"

"Are you… sure?" she breathed back, suppressing a moan.

"I'm sure" he answered, a wicked grin on his face, "Now, tell me Hermione, please say it. Do you want to be my girlfriend?" He nipped her neck as he asked this.

"YES!" Harry could not tell whether such an emphatic reaction came from a deep desire to be his girlfriend, or the things he was doing to her, but he was inclined to think the latter. Either way, she was his girlfriend, 100% officially. He grinned against her neck, as he continued kissing the soft flesh, her moans and grunts only encouraging him further. He pressed her even harder against the wall, needing to feel her mold into him, press against him.

It was a few minutes later that they stopped (albeit very reluctantly, at least on Harry's part), wary of someone coming in and catching them in such compromising positions. And just in time too, for it was not much later that the Weasleys began waking up. Harry felt particularly uncomfortable when Ginny directed him what could only be described as a very lust-filled look, undoubtedly inspired by last night's display of heroism. Really, like he needed another fangirl.

Everybody was still in a daze after what had happened, and Ron was particularly annoying. He nagged Harry over the course of the whole breakfast, insisting he should teach him how to do wandless magic. Harry argued that it could not be taught, that you simply had to concentrate and focus on your own magical core, and draw your magic from it. But this explanation did not please Ron, who thought Harry was trying to keep the secret to himself and get more fame and attention, and began acting a little cold towards him.

This suited Harry just fine, and, in fact, helped speed up his plans. He wanted to use Ron's jealousy over the goblet of fire incident, as an excuse for not being friends with him anymore; otherwise, it could be suspicious, and he also feared Hermione might be torn between them, since, as annoying as Ron was, she didn't really know just how much of a coward and a traitor hid behind that best friend facade. Now that Ron was showing signs of jealousy and a very annoying behavior early on, he might be able to cut off their friendship earlier than he had hoped for. Yes, this was indeed very good.

Thanks to Harry's slight compulsion charm, not one of the Weasleys spent any more time questioning how he'd gotten his powers; and for this he was rather glad. If only he could get the little slut and the bloody traitor from his back as well! But, it seemed, no amount of compulsion could keep those two away.

He pretty much passed the rest of the morning in that manner, trying to hide from the Weasley prats, intending not to go outside (for really, as much as he loved to show off his power, he was not in the mood for ass-kissing right now), while trying to get some time alone with Hermione and continue their earlier "activities", but, sadly, he never succeeded in his goal.

Finally, he decided it was time to head for Diagon Alley, but could not, for the life of him, create a decent excuse. Normally, he'd create an illusion of himself or something of the sort, but that sort of magic required a tremendous amount of power, and, since he'd come back in time, he did not possess enough of it. Although, if his suspicions were correct, he'd soon be back to normal power.

Deciding there was no real option (and really, he didn't care that much anyway, if they found out), he stated he was not feeling very well, asked not to be disturbed, got off into a room all by himself, locked it, and apparated right into Tom's pub, not bothering with a disguise. Why should he need to hide himself? No, once, he may have cowered from his fame, but now he didn't; and never would again.

Without sparing even a second glance at Tom, who was still a bit startled after the surprise of seeing the boy-who-lived apparate right into his business, he went ahead and accessed Diagon Alley. He was ogled at and pointed at, and he merely shrugged it all off, wearing a mask of disdain and indifference. Some girls seemed dying to approach him, and not necessarily because of his fame. He smirked. It was amazing what a few inches and some muscle could do to a person; if he were his normal, fourteen-year old lanky self, they wouldn't be giving him a second glance. No, that was a lie; they probably would, but only to ogle at the scar that lay so prominent on his forehead.

As he kept on walking, he noticed a small stand, claiming to sell very rare, very ancient books, and he made a mental note to stop by after retrieving his money. It could be a good idea to buy a couple of them for Hermione. God knew that girl loved her books, and he loved to see her smile, be happy. Granted, he also loved to see her grateful… and if that gratefulness led to some "action", as a way to repay him, he certainly wouldn't complain. He shook his head. Really, his thoughts had been turning increasingly dirty since he'd "arrived", and it was getting frustrating. He attributed to teen hormones, but mostly to the fact that, after years of virtually no contact with any person of the female species (he flinched from the mere thought of it, he was _genuinely_ repulsed by the idea of anybody touching him in any intimate matter, except for Hermione), and then meeting the sole object of his erotic fantasies after years of longing to see her again… well, what was to be expected?

_Get your thoughts out of the gutter! _He told himself _I'm here on important business, it's not the time to envision Hermione all naked and tantalizing and..._

He groaned, and decided then and there that as soon as he got the chance, his dear Hermione and himself would engage in a little game. One that preferably involved lots of chocolate, and whipped cream and…

As he now stood in front of Gringotts, he attempted to compose himself, and gathered his thoughts. He had some important things to discuss with a certain goblin. He was greeted (well, as much of a greeting as could be provided by a goblin, anyway) by a clerk who looked relatively young, compared to the rest, who introduced himself as Dankor and who was surprisingly amiable.

As soon as the introductions were made, and the goblin inquired as to what his business was, Harry replied, in the goblin's own tongue, and a rather decent accent:

"Thank you, I would like to speak to the manager, or whoever else might be in a position to help me. I would like to discuss some things regarding the Potter estate, as well as a possible emancipation."

"Gladly, sir" replied the goblin, surprised at the young man's good manners, as well as ability to speak the goblin tongue. Few wizards could speak it, or even cared enough to do so. Dankor contacted his superiors immediately, both because of the importance of the Potter estate, and because he genuinely took a liking to the boy.

He then led Harry to a small, empty office, elegantly decorated, and offered him a seat. A few moments later, a small figure stepped in. Dankor quickly stepped out, in order to give them privacy.

"Mister Potter" said the old goblin "My name is Ragnok. I am glad to see you here. I am told you wish to speak to me, regarding your estate."

"Yes I do" replied Harry, once again in the goblin tongue, and thus, earning the respect of the old goblin, "There are two, or rather, three things I wish to discuss with you. The first one is my inheritance, as well as my family lineage. I also want a test done on me to confirm a suspicion I've had for a while… but we'll get to that later." He paused, his deep green eyes boring into the goblin's "You see, I am aware of the fact that someone has been periodically stealing money from my vaults, and that you have done nothing to stop it."

Ragnok paled at such a tremendous accusation. Gringotts was impenetrable, untouchable. The idea in itself was preposterous. He was about to reply as such, when Harry interrupted.

"Don't worry, I am aware of the fact that you were completely oblivious to this, and it is not your fault. But…" he stated this with a menacing grin, his eyes clouding with darkness, a desire for revenge "I want to do something about it. And I want it to be done quickly."


	3. Chapter 3

_So here's the new chapter guys. I am very sorry for the long wait, since I promised I'd try to update roughly once a week. Sadly, quarter exams and projects got in the way… as well as student council, community service… life, also had a lengthy school trip, which I just return from. I promise to TRY to update more regularly from now on, though I may not always be able to do, I'll do my best. _

_I genuinely wanted to abstain from the whole "manipulative Dumbledore steals Harry's money" cliché that has now become rather common in fanfiction, but unfortunately, that's just the way I really think he would act. I genuinely believe that Dumbledore could and most likely did all this, perhaps not with bad intentions,but nonetheless, it wasn't right. Hopefully, my portrayal of it will have a slightly fresher twist to it, so that you can enjoy it. Anyways, here it is. _

_Also, a few people have expressed a concern over Hermione not allowing Harry to be so downright obsessive around her. Believe me, I know, and I will try to stay true to character. In my story, Hermione will occasionally have periods of self-doubt, like in the last one because, let's face it, she grew up friendless, that has got to leave behind some issues. Nonetheless, she is very independent and the smartest witch of her year, so of course she won't let anybody walk all over her, not even Harry. So, basically, Harry will eventually calm down, but he will remain very very possessive of her. _

……

"Cer… certainly Mr. Potter, we'll do everything within our power to satisfy your demands, but… I just… Gringotts is impenetrable, I can assure you. I do not wish to question you, but are you sure of your accusations?"

Harry merely smiled "Believe me, I am sure. In fact, I can prove it to you right now. I suppose you keep a record of all withdrawals made to any account?"

"Certainly Mister Potter"

"Would you mind showing me the current status for my vault then? I am aware of the fact that the one I currently have is merely a trust fund. I would like to see records for both that one and the main Potter vault, if it is possible to do so."

"Under normal circumstances, with you being a minor, it could present a problem. Nonetheless, under these conditions, we shall make an exception. I shall fetch for all reports immediately.

Harry smiled, revealing a row of perfect white teeth.

It was mere moments later that the goblin returned, carrying a heavy stack of papers in his hands and looking visibly upset and shaken. His eyes scanning one of the documents with trepidation.

"This… this…it can't… it can't…how can…"

Deciding to cut the poor man some slack, Harry cut him off "I assume you were completely unaware of this. I understand, I myself had no idea."

"But Mister Potter, how can it be? All vaults are supposed to be checked regularly, all transactions, especially the larger accounts, such as yours, are supervised in order to guarantee no foul play…" his eyes suddenly fired up, and his face distorted into a mask of rage. No doubt, he'd finally realized what had probably happened.

Harry smirked "I see by your face that you've come upon the same conclusion that I did."

"Indeed. It's just so… preposterous. I can assure you we take our job here very seriously. We might not like the wizards whose money we guard, but it's our job and we get paid for it, nonetheless, and there is a strict code of conduct among us. We value honesty and clean transactions above all. To think that one of us… What I'd like to know is how he was persuaded."

Harry sighed "I am ignorant as to who the handler of my account is (this was, of course, a lie. He knew perfectly well the goblin, even had him hunted down after he'd found out all that he'd done) but I can only assume one thing. There are only two things that Dumbledore could have offered him: either a large chunk of the transactions, or a better position for his race in society, something that, as Chief of the Wizengamot, it would appear that he has the power to do."

Ragnok's eyes were practically bulging with shock "Wait, Mr. Potter. Are you implying… ? Allow me to see if I understand. First of all I will inform you that the handler of your account is Martyndur, a very powerful and high-ranking bank account manager. The reports I've received here indicate the transfer of a substantial amount of money over the years, into several dummy accounts in several branches of Gringotts across Europe, and even a few muggle banks. I just assumed that Martyndur was stealing this money for himself."

Harry sighed "Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that. If you trace the dummy accounts, you'll find that they all lead to yet another dummy account, which leads to several more dummy accounts, until finally transferring to two main accounts: one belonging to Albus Dumbledore, and the other to an organization called The Order of the Phoenix."

Ragnok looked just about ready to faint "How… how do you know all of this?"

"Let's just say I have my sources. Ayways, that doesn0t really matter. What matters here is what are you going to do about it. I would hate to have to remove my gold from here, too much of a hassle"

Ragnok stood in silence for a few moments, contemplating the best solution, alarm evident in his features. The Potter account was one of their largest. It would not be good for them to lose it "It's clear that this has been the fault of the bank, and rest assured, Mister Potter, that we take our clients very seriously and will not ever let this happen again. Every last penny of the money that has been taken from you will be traced and recovered, and whatever we are unable to gain back, we shall cover for ourselves. We will also apprehend Martyndur immediately, and assign you a new manager. He will be hanged, most likely, and, according to goblin law, all of his gold shall now be yours. Believe me, that in itself is a very substantial amount. As I've told you, Martyndur is one of our most powerful associates and has gained quite some gold over the years."

Harry smiled in satisfaction. So an entire account would be added to his own. Not that he could ever run out of money, but still, it could always come in useful. Perhaps he could set up that account as Hermione's. Mmm… Hermione. Whipped cream. Hermione and chocolate. Okay, this was approaching dangerous territory. Couldn't his mind stop focusing on her for even a few hours? Apparently, it couldn't. Trying VERY hard to regain his focus, he turned to Ragnok.

"Excellent, I am pleased with your efficiency" he had to resist the urge to laugh at Ragnok's palpable rush of relief "But now, about the account manager… who would you choose?"

Ragnok seemed to contemplate things over for a moment "Well, there are few with enough ranking to be considered suitable for the job. Only the most powerful and old goblins handle the larger accounts, so I could give you a list, if you wish."

"No need" stated Harry "If I wish it, I can choose anyone I want, can't I? Even perhaps a joint handling?"

"Well, certainly. It's not very orthodox but yes. Although whomever it was that you chose could not take over until you became officially of age, as you have no power over your own account for the moment. Legally, we would have to assign a temporary manager, and three years from now, at your coming of age, the new managed appointed by you would step in."

"Well then" Harry grinned, already anticipating the goblin's reaction "I'd like for you, Ragnok, to direct my account, in collaboration with the young goblin who received me today, Dankor."

Just as Harry had predicted, Ragnok was absolutely speechless "But Mister Potter, I do not have nearly enough rank, and Dankor, why, he is much too young…"

"That matters little to me. I can tell Dankor is very bright. My girlfriend is merely fourteen, soon to be fifteen years old and she is already smarter than most people thrice her age. For me, how many years you've lived do not determine how astute you are. I trust the two of you will do a good job, perhaps even invest in the stock market a little… I can tell you have a knack for it, and of course, a portion of any earnings that the two of you make on my account will automatically go to you."

Ragnok's eyes lit up. He was entranced and smiling, which was definitely not becoming in a goblin. Harry had hit his weak point. He knew, from previous experience, that Ragnok was absolutely brilliant when it came to stock investing. He would generate quite a profit, no doubt, and with the added incentive of receiving a chunk of the proceedings, Harry had no doubt that this goblin had practically fallen in love with him… which was a rather disturbing thought.

Gaining his composure, Ragnok straightened up "I am honored sir. We shall not fail you."

He then called for Dankor and proceeded to fill him in on the details. To say that the young goblin was shocked would be a VERY big understatement. Most goblins dreamt of such a high position for decades, climbing relentlessly up the social ladder for the slightest chance of such a promotion. To be treated in such a way, simply for having the luck on being there when Harry Potter arrived… it would be safe to say that Harry had acquired two very faithful allies. Ah, motivated employees, such a blessing.

Once the brief celebration and cries of joy had gone underway, Harry went right back to business mode, and his two new worshippers, God bless them, were all too eager to serve.

"Now, there are a few things left to discuss. I am aware that, even if you manage to trace all of the money that was transferred from my account, you will never prove that it was Dumbledore who did it. Or, even if you did, he has too much standing in the wizarding world to do anything about it. This does not bother me. I'll deal with him in my own way, all I ask is that you keep a close eyes on my account, and on any attempts he might do to move money around. "

Both goblins nodded enthusiastically.

"Now, also. Ever since a few weeks ago, I've been getting this feeling… like I can't access my true potential, like something's holding me back. I'd like to get my magical core checked, for I suspect it has been bound."

The two goblins gasped in shock, but were very quick in following Harry's directions, soon conducting the required test and finding out that, indeed, there was a coil of energy wrapped around Harry's core that was greatly reducing his power, binding it.

This did not surprise Harry in the slightest, and was actually quite a bit of a relief. This explained many things. In the previous timeline, he remembered waking up on his seventeenth birthday feeling oddly powerful, and from that day on, his powers had slowly increased, which he'd never been able to explain to himself. Now that he was back, he was still very powerful, but much less so than he would be in a few years, and something seemed to hold him back. It was obvious then, that his core had been bound with a spell that would not dissolve until his coming of age. This was why he'd suddenly become so much more powerful, in such a short time.

"But this is… amazing, Mister Potter" stated Dankor, wonderment in his eyes… seriously, these excited expressions were downright disturbing when seen in goblins "Your core has been bound, but it would be almost impossible to tell because you still exceed an aura of magic far stronger than average. Without it, who know how strong you can really be." He frowned "There's also something very strange… you… you appear to be almost seventeen years old. Every part of your body claims so, except for your biological clock. According to it, you've just turned fourteen, which is also what is said on your official records. "

Harry laughed "Oh, that. Not to worry. Let's just say I have my secrets."

Knowing better than to inquire when it was not their place to do so, the goblins remained silent.

"Well then, what can be done?"

Ragnok cleared his throat "Officially, you would have to submit a complaint to the Ministry of Magic and then wait for them to review it and unbind your core. This, unfortunately, could take months. However, the Ministry has no jurisdiction in here, so we could do it for you… on the house, of course, it's the least we could do."

It was not Harry's turn to be amazed. The goblins were offering to do him a service… for free. Just how much money was there in his account anyway?

"I… I would very much appreciate that, thank you, but before we do so, there's another matter. As you are well aware of, I have more than enough money to become emancipated, something I wish to do so as quickly as possible, and without others' knowledge, especially a certain headmaster… "

"Why yes, yes, Mr. Potter. Legally, you could have been emancipated ever since your turned eleven, there's no reason why you shouldn't. Even more so, as heir to the Noble House of Potter,m you are entitled to a chair in the Wizengamot, and the title of Lord, all of which make your claim that much stronger." Harry could practically see the wheels turning in the goblin's head. His early emancipation would mean that Ragnok and Dankor would be tasked to manage his account right away, instead of having to wait until he came of age. Harry would not be surprised if he was emancipated within minutes…

And thus, when he stepped out of Gringotts exactly twenty minutes later, core unbound, emancipated, carrying a large stack of gold in a weight-less bag, and with a newly-developed Gringotts debit card in his pocket, Harry was not the least bit shocked by the great efficiency.

……..

Having done a bit of shopping, mainly for decent clothes in one of the nearby muggle shops, and carrying a few very rare, very expensive books for his new girlfriend, as well as a few other gifts that would hopefully earn him an… erm… "reward", Harry apparated back to the tent, only to find some very pissed-off Weasleys, as well as a very concerned Hermione, whose worry, once she found out he was okay, quickly morphed into anger. It was all too easy to shake off the Weasleys. A few compulsion spells were all it took. But Hermione would not keep falling for that, Harry knew, and frankly, he preferred to have a real, honest and healthy relationship with her. Brainwashing and manipulation should come as a last option.

So he quickly got rid of those pests and brought her to his bedroom… something which he discovered he shouldn't have done all too late, once he caught sight of the large bed, and the all-too tempting and very much real Hermione Granger standing before him, a vision he'd only been fantasizing about in the last seven years… VERY often, by the way.

_Control yourself, Potter, have some self-control. She would probably not appreciate it if you jumped her right now, especially when she's so pissed. You know how dangerous an angry Hermione can be, don't make it any worse. Although an angry Hermione is also so sexy… NO! CONCENTRATE! _

He could tell he was not in for a good time when Hermione began pacing the room, only to glare at him occasionally, until she finally spoke "Harry James Potter!" she used his full name, this was definitely not good, "Care to explain why you left in the middle of the morning, with no explanation whatsoever, bothering to come back only hours later?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! You could have been kidnapped by deatheaters, or … or eaten by wild dogs or… I don't know, but something could have happened to you!!!"

In a way, Harry was rather enjoying having her all worked up over him. It meant she cared, which, to him, was always a good thing. Hell, he'd go ballistic if she as much as left his side for a minute, let alone a few hours. Indeed, he would not disappear off alone again, he would take his dear sweet Hermione with him, or at least, let her know. God, she looked so hot when she was all worked up like that…

Realizing that Hermione was actually waiting for an explanation, Harry somehow managed to step out from his daze and began retelling her the events of the day, telling her that he'd suspected something odd had been going on with his account for quite some time, as well as his magical core and did not wish to let the Weasleys know, in case they were somehow associated with Dumbledore.

Hermione was, to say the least, baffled, but was soon enraged "Stealing from you! The nerve! And binding your core! Oh Harry! But this is terrible. Dumbledore… I can barely believe it."

"Well, you better. But there's no sense in worrying over it now. It's taken care of. I'm now an emancipated minor, won't ever have to go back to the Dursleys, Dumbledore has no control over me, I've reviewed my possessions and have quite a few properties, so I can choose to settle in any one of them. I'll just go back to Hogwarts and pretend nothing has happened, but keep a close eye on Dumbledore."

"So much happened in just a few hours. Unbelievable…" she looked up to him and smiled "But I'm so glad for you. You're free from the Dursleys now."

She looked so adorable, smiling up at him, that he simply couldn't resist and planted a soft kiss on her lips, somehow managing to keep his hormones under control. The cute blush that adorned her cheeks made him smile, and he proceeded to pull out a few things from his sack.

"You know, Hermione, the goblins were particularly attentive, so I left Gringotts much earlier than I intended to. I went out and bought a few decent clothes to wear, and picked a few other trinkets along the way… mostly for you."

Just as he was saying this, he pulled out several books and a small bunch of boxes wrapped in color paper. It took her a while to realize that it was all intended for her.

"Harry! Wh… why are you giving me this? It's not my birthday for a couple more months yet."

Harry folded his arms over his chest, pretending to be offended "Why should I need a reason to bring my dear girlfriend gifts whenever I see fit? You're you, and you're mine, what other reason do I need?"

Once again, the blush that covered her cheeks was all too tempting to resist, and he wrapped her in his arms, planting soft kisses along her forehead. "But Harry" she mumbled against him "We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for what? A few hours? I Can't let you just spend so much money on me. I don't need this stuff, you know"

"Doesn't matter", he replied "I'm not giving it to you because you need, it, I'm giving things to you because I like to. And expect many gifts from me in the near future, I should add. I've got more wealth than I could spend in ten lifetimes, you know so yourself. Anything you want, and I mean anything, will be yours."

She looked at him seriously for a few moments, disentangling herself from his arms "Harry… what has gotten into you?"

_Shit! Backtrack, backtrack , Potter. You've come on too strongly. This can't be good. Be more subtle, yes, more subtle and more like the weakling you used to be. Okay, no, scratch that, but tone it down. She could get suspicious. _

Feigning hurt, Harry looked at her "I'm… I'm sorry, Hermione, but you know, I've never been in a relationship before, and I just want to make you happy."

Looking guilty, Hermione approached him hesitantly and enveloped him. Funny, in another time, he would always be the one flinching from contact and she the one giving the hugs, but now, she was the shy one and he the one who could not hold her enough. Although that was only with her, of course. So many years of neglect by the Dursleys had made it hard for him to receive and show affection. Anyone else would make him uncomfortable. With Hermione, he just wanted to hold on to her as much as he could, and never let go.

"I'm sorry Harry" she mumbled "It just surprised me, that' all. Last year you were a shy boy whom I had had a crush on since first year, and suddenly, in the course of one day, you're my boyfriend and giving me gifts and hugging me… It's a lot to take in in a few hours' time."

Harry grinned at her "You've had a crush on me since first year?"

She blushed yet again. Harry realized this was an expression that made her particularly irresistible to him "Do you really think I would just kiss back any random guy who suddenly launched himself at me? It was my first kiss, I might add, don't know what could have possibly come over me. But yes, I've liked you for years now, but well, you _are _the boy-who-lived, so I was content with just being your friend."

"Good thing I wasn't then." Harry stated offhandedly "And it was my first kiss too. (This was technically true, at least in this timeline. And once again, that wet kiss with Cho did NOT count. It was just a peck really.)"

Hermione looked at him strangely "I'm very relieved and happy to hear that, but really, I expected you to confess to me that you'd become a playboy over the summer or something, with your new physique I wouldn' be surprised, because that did not seem like an inexperienced kiss."

Harry had the decency to blush "Let's just say I'd been imagining that moment for a long, long, time."

Hermione grinned prettily and Harry decided to get her attention back to the presents he'd bought her, before thing began to sidetrack again. "Open them, check the books. They're first editions, hope you like it."

Harry had gone all out, two Mastery level books on Charms and Transfiguration, a compendium of every living magical creature, and a copy of the Constitution, which detailed the rights (or lack thereof) of all magical creatures, no doubt to let her know what she was up against. Hermione's eyes widened: the first edition of Hogwarts a History!

"OH, HARRY!" she practically threw herself on top of him.

"I knew you would like it." Stated Harry, rather smugly "Now open the rest."

He had gotten her an assortment of "trinkets". A nice purse, a reading lamp, a couple muggle novels… anything that she might like. And then she got to her last present. It was a simple, golden bracelet, very delicate and elegant, just her type. Harry had been very tempted to have it engraved with their initials, or something of the sort, but decided that, after mere hours of dating, it might have been _a bit _too rushed. So he'd settled for the bracelet alone and, judging by her reaction, and her soft whispers of "Oh, Harry", he was inclined to think he'd made a good choice.

Her look of pure happiness, her innocent expression, the light in her eyes and blush in her cheeks, it was all too much for him, and within seconds, he had her pinned to the wall, practically devouring her mouth with his (he resisted the urge to pin her to the bed… that could lead to other…activities, and he was much too weak when it came to Hermione, to stop himself). She moaned against him. By then, he'd already decided that hearing Hermione moan was the best sound in the world, and he resolved to elicit this exquisite noise from her as often as possible. Feeling the need to explore further, he let go of her mouth and settled once more for her neck.

"Harry!" she let out between gasps "Really, anyone could come in and see…"

With one swift wave of his hand, the cloth that served as a door to his room had become a wall of stone, and the whole room was sound-proofed and covered with a notice-me-not charm.

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her "Any more objections?"

She blushed, but the sight of a very muscular, very hot Harry standing before her proved too much for her, and she soon began returning the kisses, going so far as wrapping a leg around his waist, running her hands through his dark hair. She was shocked at herself, really. But Harry's mouth felt oh so nice… It seemed Hermione Jane Granger, bookworm extraordinaire and hopeless prude had found her match in Harry Potter. He was just too hard to resist.

_So that's it for now guys, I'll try to update soon. Reviews are much appreciated. Hope you've liked it so far. _


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry for the very long wait guys. Truth is, things have been pretty hectic as of late, and I've been very busy. I honestly don't know now how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try to do it as often as I can. _

_**IMPORTANT A/N REGARDING HARRY'S ACTIONS AND POSESSIVENESS: **_

_Now, many people have expressed a concern for Harry being so obsessed with Hermione, and focusing so much on her, and not worrying about Voldemort or anything else at all. Also, people claim they can't see Dumbledore just stealing money from Harry like that. I obviously don't want to reveal much prematurely, but rest assured, I will give a reason as to why Dumbledore does this,, not just because he is a power-hungry old man who wants all the money for himself. _

_As for Harry, yes, he is awfully unconcerned and appears downright dumb for his actions at the moment. People claim he should be more craft and careful. All I can say is this: Harry has come from a future in which he has spent the past seven years missing Hermione, and having absolute reign and power. He has grown cocky and believes himself too powerful for the likes of Voldemort, and he does not want to let Hermione ever escape him again. Believe me, though, he WILL make a mistake, and he WILL be forced to reevaluate his actions and put his priorities straight. Also, he'll be forced to slow down a bit when it comes to Hermione, because really, she might be dazed at the moment, but she wouldn't allow him to just do as he pleases and treat her like a porcelain doll or something. Nonetheless, he will always remain extremely protective and possessive of her, even if it does tone down a bit. _

_Anyways, I hope I was able to reassure you. Without further ado, the fourth chapter: _

_Oh, and BTW- This chapter is more kind of filler, since I needed to set up the situation, but expect more development shortly. _

_------ _

When Jane Eustacia Granger had woken up early in the morning, two days before her daughter was scheduled to leave for Hogwarts, she had certainly not expected to receive such a surprising visitor, nor had she expected the news that would soon be revealed to her, by said visitor.

Her daughter had headed out earlier to go to the doctor, whose home clinic was just a convenient short walk away. She and her husband always insisted that Hermione be given a thorough physical examination before heading back to her boarding school each year. They had been assured repeatedly that magic was far more effective in detecting any anomalies than modern technology could ever hope to be, and they believed it. Nonetheless, being assured of her well-being by a doctor that could explain things in terms that they could understand, and were well-acquainted with, provided a sense of relief that a quick once-over with a wooden stick never would. Hermione, always the obedient daughter, had decided to humor them, and had had yearly health check-ups when she was home from school for the summer.

Her husband and herself would have usually headed out early as well, but, wanting to spend as much time as possible with their daughter on her last couple of days, had forsaken all dental appointments. This was the reason why, on that particular day, her husband, Roger, was with her, and they were both lazily watching TV, waiting for their daughter to come home.

To be honest, they hadn't had much time to talk at all, what with her leaving to go to that quiddlip cup, or whatever it was that that sport was called. They'd been pleasantly surprised when she'd stated she would come home earlier than expected, due to "irreconcilable differences with a certain redheaded roommate" of hers, although she did express regret at "leaving something behind". Whatever this something was, she had not yet revealed, but there had been a very noticeable difference in her mood the last few days since her return. She was cheerier overall, although she would suddenly go off on melancholic moods seemingly out of nowhere, but refused to state the reason, something which did worry them both. They would also like her to go out and have fun once in a while, but they knew very well that Hermione had never fit in with the kids in the neighborhood, and it wasn't until she'd gone off to that magic school of hers that she'd opened up considerably, thanks to these two boys she always kept mentioning, although one was prominently more present in her letters than the other.

It was just as Jane was stuck in her musings, her husband's arm draped over her shoulders, that a sudden ring on the door made her jump slightly. It couldn't be Hermione, she had her own set of keys, and it was far too early for her to arrive. As for friends or other visitors, she couldn't think of anyone. Hopefully, it wouldn't be one of those obnoxious door-to-door sellers that delighted in ruining her mornings and putting her in a foul mood.

Praying that this wasn't the case, she spared a glance at her husband and, seeing his slight nod, headed to the door.

She never would have expected, of course, to find a moderately tall, lean young man, perhaps seventeen years old, grinning at her and holding two flower bouquets in his hands. She wasn't perhaps the best judge of it, being so much older, but she thought he was rather handsome, with a physique well-accentuated by his jeans and black button-down shirt, and messy black hair that fell slightly over his glass-covered eyes, which were a startling green color.

She couldn't help but feel that she'd seen this young man before, but could not, for the life of her, remember from where. It was then of course, that he extended his hand (careful to hold the two bouquets tightly in the other), and greeted her "Hello, Mrs. Granger. My name is Harry Potter"

Startled, Jane shook the offered hand and nodded, not expecting his daughter's closest friend to appear out of nowhere, but pleasantly surprised to see him there. It was now evident why he seemed so familiar… as if the thousands upon thousands of letters from her daughter had not been excessively descriptive of him. And she seemed to recall meeting him once a few years back. But wasn't he supposed to be very small and skinny? Furthermore, he definitely looked older than fourteen, but well, growth spurts could do that, she guessed.

Smiling, she greeted him back "Oh, Harry, it's a pleasure. We've heard a lot about you from Hermione. Why, you're well-known in this house already."

He seemed pleased with this information and smiled even more broadly. He offered her one of the bouquets and smiled charmingly, which she accepted gladly, impressed with his thoughtfulness.

"I'm sorry to bother, Mrs. Granger, but I was wondering If Hermione is anywhere around?"

She shook her head "I'm sorry, Harry, she left a while ago to go to the doctor's office, but…"

"Wait! The doctor's office? Is she okay?" realizing his rude interruption, and the fact that if Hermione were in any actual danger, her mother would not be nearly as calm and content, Harry caught himself quickly and apologized nervously "I'm…I'm sorry for interrupting Ms. Granger, I just panic if I hear the words Hermione and doctor in the same sentence. It's like a reflex" he smiled sheepishly "Please forgive me and do continue. She is alright, isn't she?"

Far from taking offense, Jane found his worrying quite endearing, and proceeded to reassure him "No, don't worry Harry, it's just a routine check-up that we force her to endure before returning to Hogwarts each year" noticing his visible relief, she continued "She should be back in a while, an hour at the most, you could come back then if you want, or, you could wait here with us, if you wish. I'd be glad to hear about Hogwarts from someone other than my daughter."She wasn't exactly sure what possessed her to make such an offer; it wasn't like her to invite a virtual stranger in, but there was something about this boy that made her want to trust him. And really, with all of Hermione's talk of him, she felt that she practically knew him, not to mention that she really did want to see Hogwarts from another person's perspective. Although she would understand if he refused. Not many boys were comfortable with the idea of spending a while with two adults just for the sake of waiting for a friend. So she expected him to declare he'd come back later, or something of the sort.

To her surprise, the young man before her nodded happily "I would be very glad to do so, Mrs. Granger, if I don't prove to be an intrusion, of course."

"Oh, of course not, Harry, do come in, I'll present you to my husband."

Harry stepped in eagerly after Mrs. Granger, closing the door behind him. Mr. Granger was still watching the TV quite enthusiastically, but turned around at the sound of voices. He caught his wife's delighted expression and she began "Roger, look who's here! This is Harry Potter, you know, Hermione's Harry." She caught herself at the last bit, thinking she might have spoken out of turn… she was so used to referring to Harry that way, surely Hermione would kill her if she found out; but Harry just smiled, seeming _pleased_ to be called Hermione's.

Roger stood up immediately. He'd never really had the chance to meet a friend of Hermione's (mainly because before she met this one in particular, she didn't have any), and he was eager to do so.

Mrs. Granger continued "He came to see Hermione, you see, he even brought us this lovely bouquet" she said this while holding the flowers "Bit since she'll be back in a bit, I invited him in. Maybe we can learn a bit more about magic from him!" she seemed very excited.

Seeing this as his cue, Harry stepped forward and extended his hand once again "Good morning, Mr. Granger."

Mr. Granger shook his hand "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry, Hermione has told us so much about you."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Would you like anything to drink, Harry?" chipped in Mrs. Granger.

"Oh, no, Mrs. Granger, I'm fine, but thank you for the kind offer"

At this, Jane settled down beside her husband, and Harry sat on the couch opposite them.

"So tell us, then, Harry" began Mr. Granger, careful to use a pleasant tone as to not intimidate the boy (God knows if he did, his daughter would chop off his head) "Have you come see Hermione for anything in particular? Not that we mind, of course, it's just quite the surprise"

Harry merely answered unfazed "Believe me, Mr. Granger, if I had had the means to do so, I would have come pay her a visit sooner. I've grown quite dependent on her presence at school, I assure you. Now, I am finally free to do so, and to be frank, I missed her too much" Both Grangers smiled at his choice of words.

He stood up then, ready for the kill "That was the main reason, to be honest, but there's also another one. Since Hermione is now my girlfriend, I wanted to come and meet you personally. To assure you that she's in safe hands, and to let you know I would die before hurting her. Also" he grinned "Call me old-fashioned, but I wanted to make sure you approve of me."

His little speech was met by a very startled look from Mr. Granger, and a _squeal_ from Mrs. Granger "Oh, I always knew you would end up together. I didn't know you, of course, but it was obvious from that girl's letters that she was head over heels for you, even if she's too stubborn to accept it. I always knew she had to have good taste, but… oh, and such a polite boy too. Asking for our approval…what a thoughtful thing to do…"

Mr. Granger, not nearly as excited, interrupted his wife's ecstatic babbling "Wait" he began, not unkindly, but not too warmly either "When…when did this happen?"

Harry appeared startled for just the briefest of seconds, but regained his composure immediately and began "This summer, just a couple of weeks ago. I assumed she had told you, but I…err… guess she must have had her reasons." There was a flash of disappointment in his eyes, of vulnerability, that did not go unnoticed by the Grangers, but he was quick to shake it off "Whatever the reason, now you know it, and I would gladly listen to your opinion on the matter, as well as any questions you might want to ask me. I'm sure that whenever I have a daughter, I'd like to make sure that anyone she dates is worthy of her, so feel free to ask away."

Both the Grangers had to admit that they were both impressed by the young man's maturity and good manners, and proceeded to do just that. Mrs. Granger was already smitten with the boy, and it didn't take long for Mr. Granger to feel every doubt and worry he could have possibly had, lift away.

-----

Hermione was looking forward to a good meal and a cold glass of water. The small house clinic had unexpectedly fallen behind on appointments. As such, she was forced to wait quite a while to be attended, with a bunch of screaming kids, no less. To make matters worse, the hot summer sun was now in full throttle, making the short walk back home seem much longer than it actually was.

Glad to be home, she opened the door of the house, surprised to hear voices in the living room. Her parents hadn't mentioned anything about having guests over today, and there was a bouquet of fresh flowers in a vase sitting upon a table, something which had not been there this morning. Frowning, she walked towards the living room. The sight that that she was greeted by, nonetheless, was the last thing she'd expected to see.

Harry Potter, _her _Harry Potter, sat on a couch, facing her parents, and chatting with them as if it were the most natural thing in the world. What was even more surprising was her parents' expressions. They looked almost… _enraptured. _It was just plain disturbing. She must have fallen asleep in the waiting room at the clinic. How else could Harry be here, if, as far as she knew, he didn't even know her address? And how could her parents have let him in just like that? They were talking as if they were old friends, for God's sake! Suddenly, a pair of emerald eyes turned towards her, and the smile that Harry directed towards her was much too real to be a dream. But how was this possible?

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed eagerly, and stood up quickly to wrap her in a hug.

She was frozen to the spot. What was happening here? Furthermore, wasn't he uncomfortable by hugging her so openly in front of her parents? What would their reaction be? She turned her eyes towards them. There were positively _beaming!_ What on Earth was wrong with the world?

"Harry, what, what are you doing here?" seeing his expression fall down a bit, and realizing her words, she quickly corrected "I mean, I'm glad that you are, it's just unexpected. I mean…"

He chuckled, seemingly amused now "I came by to see you, and meet your parents. I thought it was, you know, the best thing to do, considering…"

_OH SWEET MERLIN! _her thoughts practically screamed at her _I never did… I never did mention it to them. The way Harry is behaving though, he must have told them. Am I in trouble now? Oh, why did I have to be so stupid and shy and nervous and keep it from them? They must think so badly of me now… and Harry… what he must have thought when he came in and introduced himself as my boyfriend, only to have them be confused… But then, if he did, shouldn't he be dead by now, I mean, I'm sure dad would kill any prospective suitors of mine. What is going on here!?!_

"Hermione!" called out her mom, snapping her out of her daze "Yes, we know. Yes, Harry explained. No, you're not in trouble. But yes, you will definitely have to explain it to us later." Sometimes, Hermione was amazed at how easily her mom understood what she was thinking about. "Anyway" continued Jane "I wasn't expecting a guest, obviously, and we had planned to go out for lunch with you anyway, so we've invited Harry to come along. He's already talked with us quite a bit, but we'd like to speak to both of you. Now, go upstairs and get ready quickly. I'll go with you."

Still shocked, she watched Harry grab a bouquet of flowers and present it to her; she smiled and thanked him, but was quickly climbing the stairs, leaving Harry with her father, and her mother in tow. Once the door was closed, her mother looked at her, her expression a strange mixture of emotions. "Now, daughter dearest" began her mom "I would like to know why you hid from us that you had started a relationship with Harry… who, I might add, you've been in love with for the past three years, and who (this, she stated smugly) I always told you you'd end up with."

"I…I'm…I'm not sure" replied Hermione, her eyes downcast.

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"I don't know, mom, really, I don't. I guess a part of me was afraid of your reactions, but mostly… there's a part of me that still can't believe it's true, and for some reason I felt that, if people were to know, I would somehow jinx it and ruin it" she looked down "Haha, look at me, the smartest witch of my year supposedly, and somehow I have such strange notions."

Jane smiled warmly "Don't worry, Hermione, it's understandable. You've never been in a relationship before, and with your first crush and first friend nonetheless! Of course it can be terrifying, but never lose your faith in yourself darling. You deserve this. Of course you do. Truth be told, you're the closest anyone will ever come to deserving that boy."

Wait… Hermione paused and looked at her mom strangely. Had she just said what thought she said? "Mom, aren't you supposed to tell me that I'm a great girl and he is lucky to have me or something like that?"

"Well, with any other boy I normally would, dear" answered her mom "But have you seen that boy? So polite, so handsome, so thoughtful. Most boys wouldn't even think about introducing themselves to their girlfriend's parents until they were forced to, but to do so willingly and ask permission to date you?" she sighed happily "If only I were younger and not married" seeing her daughter's murderous glance, she amended "Not that I don't love your father, darling. That was just a joke, haha (nervous laugh). What I was getting at…" and at this point, she suddenly turned very serious, something which surprised Hermione immensely. Her mom was rarely serious. In fact, they were exact opposites, so much so that Hermione often looked like the mom and Jane acted like the daughter. So now, seeing her watch her so intently, with so much resolve, made her think that her mom had something very important to say "What I was getting at is this… you have better watch that boy and keep him with you. God knows, he would never be unfaithful or anything, you can see how much he adores you and how great and moral he is, but you can be rather pigheaded at times, daughter of mine. If you let that boy go, I will be so mad at you… just think of how great it will be to show him off once you two get married! Your aunt Eugie will have nothing on me! Nothing!"

Hermione was really not sure on whether this was a joke or not, but she feared finding out, so she merely nodded disbelievingly, and began getting her clothes out. Her mom began walking out the door, but stopped to tell her one last thing "You should also explain what happened to Harry, dear. Why you didn't tell us about him. He hid it well, but I can tell the news startled him… he must have thought you were ashamed of him."

Dreading the idea of hurting Harry because of her foolishness, Hermione nodded furiously, as her mom walked out, mumbling a few last words "Although why he would think anyone would be ashamed of him, I have no idea. Such a wonderful boy… I bet my grandchildren will be just beautiful to look at…"

Blushing slightly at her mother's comment (but really, she should have been used to her strange and random ideas by now), Hermione proceeded to change into a nice pair of jeans and a nice blouse… not too formal, but not too casual either. She spritzed on some perfume, and she was ready to go, her heart already beating rapidly at the thought of Harry going with them.

_**RIDDLE MANOR**_

"Wormtail!" the small, deformed creature, called out, its voice weak and raspy, and yet, underlying a strong anger…a threat of what could come.

"Ye…yes… master?" the man who replied was mousy-looking, despite its relatively big build, and his voice denoted a submissiveness, pure and simple fear.

"There's something wrong, Wormtail. There is something in Potter, something that has changed, and I don't like it."

"Ss…something that has changed, my lord?"

"Must I repeat myself you fool!? Yes, I can feel it, feel it through the link we share. Something is not quite right. From one moment to the next, there was a radical change, but it is impossible for me to pinpoint what it is. It is almost as if he's… blocking me!I do not like this. We must keep an eye on him, yes, an eye on him."

"And how… how do we do that, my lord?"

"Think, you moron, think!" the creature was obviously trying to appear fearsome, but in its state, looked almost comical, and even pitiful. This did not matter to Wormtail, though, who winced visibly at the outburst "But since you seem incapable of such an action" continued the creature "I guess I must take care of it. You obviously can't infiltrate yourself into Hogwarts anymore, now that your identity as an animagus is known… so we must get somebody else, someone that Potter wouldn't suspect."

"Perhaps… a student, sir."

The creature twitched its lips, in an obvious attempt to smile "Ahhh, finally, you show that you are at least not completely useless. Yes, a student, we must get a student to keep an eye on him. Harry Potter has changed, and I want to know exactly what it is that has happened. I will not tolerate _anything _getting in the way of my plan."

------

Well guys, here you have it. Hopefully, you enjoyed it, and I'll be updating soon. Constructive criticism is welcome, as well as any reviews you may wish to submit. Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

_Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the long wait. I know things seem slow right now, but I wanted to spend a few chapters just building up the HHr relationship (and giving you a more or less clear understanding of just how obsessed and slightly …err eccentric, for lack of a better word, Harry is.) Things will start kicking into high gear soon enough. _

Hermione was heavily concerned.

Scratch that, she was baffled.

Over the course of the morning, she'd watch Harry charm her parents after just a few minutes knowing them, even going as far as starting a conversation with her dad about the family car (a Mercedes E350). It was well-known in the family that Roger, while not precisely a car fanatic, was exceedingly proud of his car, and frequently commented on just how fast it could run and how many comforts it provided. Unfortunately for him, his wife and daughter were completely unimpressed by the conversation he so eagerly provided.

Harry though, had spotted the car and asked about its features, and everything went downhill from there (for the two women who could really not follow the conversation, that is). For the next 15 minutes or so, Harry and Roger engaged in a deep discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of luxury cars, greatly surprising Hermione, who had no idea how Harry of all people, could possibly know any of it. It was only stopped after Harry, seemingly realizing both women's discomfort, asked Jane to what restaurant they were heading to, and somehow ended up discussing the joys of cooking.

It was perplexing, mind-blowing even. Less than a couple of hours, and the boy had them eaten out of the palm of his hand. Heck, he hadn't even payed any attention her! And she was the girlfriend! Not that she minded, of course, she knew it was important for him to get along with her parents… and she really had no right to complain after the disappointment she must have given him when he found out she hadn't even told them about their relationship… but damn it his lips were enticing! That grin of his, which she hadn't seen in oh so many days. Why had she left the Weasleys' camp again?

Oh right, Ginny was being a pain… but wouldn't those beautiful green eyes staring up at you make up for it?

Her internal musings were cut short when said pair of green eyes focused on her, making her breath catch in her throat, and he smiled wide, muttering something. Of course, mesmerized as she was, it was quite impossible to hear what he was trying to say. This, therefore, became a problem when he noticed she wasn't answering and was pretty much ignoring what he said. She finally snapped out of her reverie when he shook her shoulder, and she unintentionally responded with a "Huh?". Cool, Hermione, so cool.

Harry, though, being the gorgeous gentleman he was, merely smiled and gestured out the window. She then noticed that they had arrived… and probably a bit ago, if her parents waiting expectantly outside the restaurant's doors were any indication. She blushed and stepped out the door that Harry was holding open for her.

Upon seeing her, her mom and dad smiled warmly, and her mom, being the darling person she was, couldn't resist teasing her a bit "My, Hermione, you took an awfully long time. If I didn't trust Harry so much, I'd swear you were taking advantage of him."

Hermione merely turned a shade of red that could make a Weasley proud, and turned hurriedly towards her dad, expecting some outburst of indignation. Instead though, he was smirking right along. Where was the dad that would kill any boy who stepped within half a mile of his daughter? What's more… her mom had known Harry for little less than three hours and now "she knew him so well"? She was starting to get creeped out, and there was definitely something wrong going on… and she planned to find out just what it was.

Before she could dwell any further on her parents' present mental conditions, she was being dragged once again into the restaurant, and before she knew it, they had been ushered into a table, and she felt absolutely silly for spacing out so much over such a short period of time. Harry would think there was something wrong with her! But really, she needn't have worried, for though Harry remained attentive to her every need, and stealing quick glances at her every five seconds or so (which she found rather endearing), her parents were keeping him all too occupied, bombarding him with questions that only required a minimum output from her part.

Her boyfriend in question was very pleased indeed. He'd been all ready to turn on his compulsion to the fullest when he met Hermione's parents, and he found them to be much more amicable than he'd expected! Granted, they had always been extremely nice people, even after the war and the loss of their daughter. Right after his Hermione's (he still struggled to say it)… death, he had searched for them personally, tracking them down in Australia and restoring their memories. To date, he couldn't figure out if he did it so that he would have someone to share memories of her with, or out of a sense of duty… or simply to have someone else suffer her loss (for surely, losing her was the biggest possible loss in the world, no other death or massacre could compare). Whatever the cause had been, he'd gotten to know them, sharing their interests. He'd treated them like the in-laws he should have had, and though they were apprehensive of him at first (especially Roger), he'd eventually cracked them down, and he had learned much from them.

Because of his knowledge of their liked and dislikes, he'd never really been worried about their accepting him, but he did expect some resistance, like the first time. It seemed though, that without Hermione's death, they hadn't had the chance to build up those barriers that had made them so apprehensive once. Jane was taken with him in moments, and he didn't even use the slightest bit of magic. Roger was very friendly as well, but he could tell, right from the start, that he would be an overprotective father, which could not bode well for his relationship with Hermione, and he really did not have the time to woo the in-laws once again. Or rather, that was a lie, he just didn't have the patience, and he would rather spend his time wooing their daughter. So he'd used a bit of compulsion, yes. To his credit, though, it was an extremely small and mild amount, only enough to diminish his apprehensiveness. The fact that Roger was already so taken with him? That was all due to his own charm.

"So then Harry" continued Roger, who had been asking him question after question for pretty much the past hour "How did you get all the way to our house, now that I think of it? Hermione told us you were in some remote and unknown location where some sort of game championship was being played."

Harry could hardly tell them he'd apparated, at least not with Hermione within hearing distance, so he fibbed a bit "I took the knight bus. It's pretty much like a regular bus, except much faster, and magical, and it has bunk beds instead of seats. But I wasn't in some remote location anymore, thank God, the Weasleys were driving me insane. I actually just finished checking out some stuff recently, some things I had to settle, and I'm now living in an apartment quite close from here, it was listed amongst the properties I inherited, and I liked it a lot, at least while I live alone." Well, it hadn't been among the properties he owned as much as he actively searched for a place close to Hermione's home and had therefore recently purchased it… but what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

Jane and Roger appeared surprised "You live alone Harry? I thought you had an aunt and uncle?"

At this, Harry grew apprehensive "I do, but they've never treated me all that well."

The Grangers sensed Harry did not want to talk about it, so they let it slide. Hermione, though, already knew Harry's home-life wasn't all that great, but there was something in his tone of voice that indicated something more, and she therefore made a mental note to ask him about it later. If the Dursleys had so much as touched one little hair of her gorgeous boyfriend, there would be HELL to pay.

Something was still bothering Roger, though, so he decided to voice it "Aren't you a bit young, though, Harry? I mean, you certainly look older, but I know for a fact that you're only 14."

Harry smiled, time to deliver the coup de grace. A father's greatest fear would always be for their children not to be provided for. After this, Roger could remain certain that Harry was, in all aspects, the best option for his daughter.

Attempting to feign embarrassment (which was really hard, btw), Harry answered, blushing slightly "Ahh, well, you see, I just recently became emancipated. Hermione knows, though we never really got to discuss it much, but this summer I went over to Gringotts, and ended up finding out that, as a lord, heir of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter, and having a very…err… considerable sum of money that I inherited from my parents at my disposal, as well as several properties, I was legally able to claim emancipation. I did, and now I can live wherever I want, without the Dursleys. Rest assured, though, that I do not plan to abuse this freedom."

"You… you're a lord, Harry?" Hermione was bewildered.

Harry chuckled "It would appear so."

"I'm so glad I became your girlfriend before knowing this, otherwise people could never be sure if I was after you or your money." Joked Hermione.

"You mean you weren't after my roguish good looks?" he asked with a pout, feigning hurt.

Hermione actually had to blush… his looks really were very spectacular "Nah, it was your fame really."

At this Jane interrupted "Fame?"

Hermione chuckled and answered for Harry, believing to be saving him the embarrassment of explaining (Harry actually liked his fame now, so she needn't have worried, but it was good for her parents to see him as modest) "Yes, dad, Harry happens to be the most famous wizard in the wizarding world, for defeating an evil wizard when he was just a baby."

Both her parents looked awe-struck now, but Jane was the first to comment "So let me get this straight… in addition to being completely gorgeous and chivalrous, you happen to be a lord, heir to an ancient and very substantial fortune, owner of several properties, and the most famous and powerful wizard in your world?"

Harry shrugged "It would appear so."

Roger continued "And may I ask, if you don't mind, what some of these properties are?"

"Dad!" Hermione chided him.

"I'm just curious honey!"

Harry answered all too willingly "I have yet to inspect the whole list, really, but it appears I own a castle in Ireland, and I think another one in Scotland (this one he had acquired when Martyndur's gold and properties had been passed on to him. The goblin did have quite a bit of a fortune indeed), a small cottage in Switzerland, an hacienda in Mexico, a couple apartments here and there, actions in quite a few hotels world-wide, and I seem to recall I owned a few golf courses."

Roger perked up "Golf courses you say?"

Harry smiled. He'd forgotten about Roger's obsession with golf, this was his golden moment "Ahh, yes, I own a few in England and Scotland, as well as Australia. It appears my grandfather was quite obsessed with the sport. I can't recall all of them or their names right now, but I can tell you I own the two golf courses that are in this city, in their entirety."

Roger sputtered "You… I… you…mean….you….y-you o-own…my friends they'll never believe…" he then seemed to compose himself "Harry, would you like adopting me?"

Jane chipped in then "And me, Harry. Or you know, if you ever get tired of Hermione, marriage can always be dissolved. I'm sure I could make you very…"

"MOM!"

"Kidding, darling, kidding. So then Harry, if you could just hurry up and marry Hermione already so that we can officially call you our son-in-law…"

"MOM!"

"I second that."

"DAD! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"Just looking out after our interests, honey"

Hermione turned to see Harry, mortified by his reaction, and was surprised to see him look smug, positively beaming "Well, that's no problem to me of course, I had already been thinking of the date. I thought we could get married straight out of Hogwarts. How does Hawaii sound? Or I could pull a few strings and have us married in Westminster. Of course, we would be living anywhere close enough for Hermione to study at whatever University she wants, and you could always move in nearby…"

"HARRY!" Hermione was completely convinced the world had gone mad.

"Oh, Harry, that's so thoughtful of you." continued Mrs. Granger.

"Please take good care of her, son." added Roger.

"I haven't agreed to anything yet! We're just fourteen! Most high school couples don't last a month, let alone get married! We might break up next week for all I know".

Her parents looked at her, awe-struck. Wait, was that a tear in her dad's eye!?! It was only once she saw Harry's smile falter a bit that she realized what she'd said, and immediately regretted it. Of course she hadn't really thought that far ahead, but she'd blurted out what she said because of sheer exasperation. She most certainly did not want to break up with Harry. She'd been crushing after him for years now! And the thought of marrying him someday certainly appealed to her, she'd just snapped because of the situation.

She turned towards him, he was avoiding her eyes "Harry, I…"

But before she could properly amend the situation, a hand grabbed her shoulder, and she realized she was facing one of the last people she could possibly want to see.

Eugenia Lowell Reed could not believe her eyes.

Hermione, her bookish, bushy-haired, buck-toothed, and horridly anti-social cousin was across from her, sitting in a table with her parents and one of the most gorgeous guys she'd ever seen. He could most definitely not be her boyfriend, she decided. For starters, he was way too hot to even look Hermione's way, and he definitely looked older, perhaps 17 or even 18. Probably a cousin from her uncle Roger's side or something. So naturally, seeing that hunk so close to her, and having the perfect excuse to go present herself to him, she told her mom they should go say hi to the family, and within seconds was standing behind Hermione, grabbing her shoulder.

"Eugie!" exclaimed Hermione, appearing surprised.

"Well, hello there, cousing, how have you been?"

Moments later, her aunt and uncle stood up and greeted her mom, and the proper greeting followed. Once all that had been over and done with, Eugenia turned to Mr. Gorgeous. She noticed then that he had deep green eyes and the most charming smile she'd ever seen, and decided there and then to make him her next conquest. So naturally, when he grinned charmingly and present himself as Hermione's boyfriend, she couldn't believe her eyes. He had to have some fatal flaw then, to be her boyfriend. He must be horribly poor (although by the looks of his clothes, she rather doubted it) or hopelessly insane, or… something. She decided to sit down nonetheless and talk a bit with them, and if she found out he was indeed sane and simply had very bad taste, she would make sure he reconsidered his choice of girlfriend.

Harry , for his part, knew something was wrong the moment this Eugie girl approached him. He was still trying to gather his thoughts after the blow of Hermione's words. "We might break up by next week, for all I know." Those words had stung too deeply. Of course he knew that, unlike him, who had seven years' more worth of experience and actually knew that living without her would be total hell, she was only fourteen and most definitely had not considered anything of the magnitude of marriage. But her words still affected him, too much. Didn't she love him? What if she never loved him? Granted, they'd only been dating a few days, and he knew she probably only liked him at this point. It would take a while to get her to love him the way he loved her. But he wanted her to love him now. Need him the way he needed her. He was tempted, REALLY tempted to use his most potent compelling charm on her… but again, something within him protested at the thought, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Darn those noble urges! Hadn't he quelched them completely many many years ago?!

Just as the girl who had him in such turmoil was about to address him though, this Eugie girl came along and he instantly noticed Hermione simultaneously deflate and tense up. It was obvious to him that she didn't like this girl, and anyone who Hermione didn't like, had an automatic free pass to Harry's black list. He decided to do a quick legilimens on the girl (Hermione's cousin, he now knew), and couldn't help but be amused by her thoughts. She, such a plain, obviously obnoxious girl, snag him, when he already had the most gorgeous witch or muggle ever by his side? It was laughable really. His thoughts then turned to anger when she thought of his Hermione as a plain, bushy-haired bookwork. His Hermione was most definitely a bookworm, and he loved that about her, but she was most definitely NOT plain, and anyone referring to her in that way would have to face the consequences. He soon learned that this girl and the love of his life had always been rivals, and that, while Hermione excelled in all academics, Eugenia had always beat her ion the social aspects, snagging boy after boy while Hermione remained oblivious to the opposite sex (something which pleased Harry immensely). She was thinking how great it would be to snag her cousin's first real boyfriend from right under her nose, but then pondered whether he was all that great, for to be dating Hermione there must have been something bad with him. He did a quick search of her mother's mind and found similar thoughts, revealing that the mothers hated each other as much as the daughters, and that Jane had always hated how this woman talked about her daughter's many boyfriends every chance she could get. Harry tried not to smirk. He would show them.

When Eugenia approached him, he turned on his most charming smile and grinned right at her, quick to introduce himself as Hermione's boyfriend. His girlfriend, in turn, seemed to be apprehensive, especially after their introduction. She couldn't actually think he would prefer this Eugie girl over her, could she?

He was distracted from this train of thought, though, as the girl in question began to speak "Why, Hermione must be so lucky, to have you as a boyfriend. I'm sure you could charm just _any _(at this, she shaked her breasts suggestively, which made Harry want to grimace) girl."

He decided he would have to lay it on real thick and proceeded to gush out, in the most chivalrous tone he could muster, and flashing his most charming grin "Of course, not, I'm the lucky one. I was very worried she would turn me down, actually, I'm so glad she said yes." At this, he placed his arm protectively over her waist.

Hermione turned towards him and smiled.

"Why, what a charming young man. So glad Hermione dear found him. Where on Earth did the two meet, by the way?" spoke Eugie's mother to Jane, obviously not meaning a word.

Jane smiled, seemingly having developed a similar plan to Harry's "Oh, Harry also attends the same boarding school in Scotland, Eugenia."

Eugenia senior looked not-at-all pleased by this "That exclusive and very expensive school for children with special abilities?"

"The very same." answered Emma smugly "In fact, just before you arrived, Harry here was telling us all about his castle, which I understand is very near there, right Harry?"

Oh yes, Harry would most definitely play along "I haven't actually had the chance to inspect it myself, I acquired it just recently, but yes, I understand it's very close by. Perhaps all of you could come visit some time soon, I'm sure Hermione and I could get permission to leave school for a weekend, and we could all stay there."

"That would be delightful, Harry" Roger was grinning widely.

Hermione was confused at first, but upon seeing the smug grin in both her parents' and Harry's faces, she understood the situation, and grinned.

"And perhaps then you could even tell us some more about your family. It would certainly be delightful to learn more about the past _Lord _Potters" added Jane.

The look on both Eugenias' face was almost comical.

"A…a lord, you say?" Eugie junior asked.

"Why, yes, Harry here is a lord, and he's got quite a few properties to go with the title, I can assue you" Hermione was smiling from ear to ear.

"It can't…you must be…" and just as Eugenia senior was about to protest the validity of what they were saying, a man and woman approached out of nowhere, and for the first time, Harry though luck must really be on his side.

"Harry… Harry Potter, sir, it's an honor, an honor I say, to meet you!" exclaimed the man, looking completely bewildered "To think I thought my wife was crazy to suggest a muggle restaurant. Oh, than God I listened to her, thank you, thank you, darling! It's an honor, I… I…"

It seemed like the man was too awe-struck to continue, and his wife continued "And I, for one, am glad you listened to me. I told you I had a good feeling about coming here. Could you, Mr. Potter, sir… that is to say, if it's not too much trouble…"

And now the husband resumed their talk "We have a daughter, she has your poster on her bedroom wall. Could you please give us your autograph? It would mean the world to her!"

Harry just smiled appreciatively and did just that, grabbing a pen and signing the paper they so diligently provided. After it was all done with, and the couple managed to throw in some more cries of adoration, both the Grangers and the Eugenias were left to gape at him. Hermione, used to this, merely smiled smugly. She knew how much Harry hated these sorts of shows (well, the old Harry did, she just didn't know this), but this little display could not have come in at a better time.

Jane was the first to recover "Jeesh, Hermione, I know you said he was famous and adored over in your worl… err… Scotland, but I didn't expect… I mean…he has a _poster…"_

Harry smiled sheepishly, but his gaze was directed towards the Eugenias, who had yet to compose themselves "Ahh, yes, that does tend to happen from time to time."

After some more minutes, Eugenia junior, seemed to regain her composure, now more sure than ever that this famous, rich hunk, who was a lord to boot, should be with her and not her book-worm of a cousin. She slid her hand and placed it over his arm, feeling his muscle, and said seductively "Why, charming, handsome, rich, famous, a lord… is there anything you don't have?"

Disgusted, Harry was quick to move his arm, not caring how rude it seemed, and answered "Nope, once I got the beautiful girl that any sane bloke would kill for, I was pretty much set."

The smile that he got from Hermione was a reward in itself, and the underlying promise in her eyes that seemed to say "for that, you will get a special treat tonight", made him all too eager to leave this place as soon as possible.

Both Eugenias were stricken. This boy was either most definitely in love with Hermione, or a fool, and they were both inclined to think the latter. After a few more moments of chat, they had to leave, and Eugie junior was contemplating how to proceed to snatch this guy. She wasn't giving up, but the fact that they both left for their exclusive boarding school in Scotland, of all places, in a couple of days, made any plans of action extremely hard to devise. But she would do something about it, most definitely. Just as soon as she got home and finished calling every single one of her friends (who, coincidentally, were all the girls that had ever antagonized Hermione before going to Hogwarts), and telling them all about the gorgeous, famous and rich boyfriend that Hermione had managed to snag. For some reason, she had the irresistible urge to do so.

Once the unwelcome intruders had left, Jane proceeded to speak "YES! Finally! Did you see her face, Roger, we beat her!"

"Oh, yes, yes, we did!"

She turned towards Harry then "Harry, I am afraid that after that, we have discovered you are much too perfect. Despite whatever Hermione says, we will help you drug her and abduct her until she agrees to marry you, do not worry."

"MOM!"

The Grangers just laughed, as well as Harry, but Hermione could tell he didn't really mean it. That comment had reminded him of her previous statement, and she knew Harry all too well. He had obviously been hurt, and a lot, by it. And they hadn't even talked about the fact that she'd hid her relationship from her parents yet! What sort of girlfriend was she? Harry was all smiles outside, but she could see his occasional crack. Harry was most definitely hurt, and she was the cause of it, and she needed to do something about it. And as soon as they got home, and she managed to get her parents off of her boyfriend (really, they were almost more devoted to him than her!), she would make sure to set things right.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello guys, I somehow managed to update a bit more quickly than usual. So without further ado, here's the story. _

Harry was surprised, and very much so. He was also very confused, and very much so.

Hermione's parents, without any extra prodding from his part, had actually invited him to stay for the next few days until Hogwarts started back again, insisting that he would feel much too alone in an apartment all by himself, although they did insist on checking it out soon, since it was so close from their home, Jane even stating they had to see his and Hermione's future "love nest". Again, WITHOUT ANY COMPULSION SPELLS! It was bizarre, to say the least, since she had never acted nearly as randomly when he'd met her in the past time-line, but then again, she'd lost her daughter back then, so it might have been something he should have expected. He'd quickly come to the conclusion that Hermione's studious nature and intellect were not due to either of her parents (although Roger did seem to be highly intelligent, so it might have been due to him). In fact, he suspected that she had developed her bossy and mothering personality through some form of reverse psychology, needing to become the mother when Jane acted like a little girl. He could tell she was extremely close to her parents, though, something he'd always suspected, but not to this extent, and he was very happy about it. What made it even better was that said parents approved of him.

A little too much, actually. When they had suggested he stay with them, Jane had not-at-all subtly suggested he could share a room with Hermione (and he used legilimency on her… SHE WAS SERIOUS!!!), much to the embarrassment of said witch and quite a bit of discomfort for him (the images this suggestion produced were all-too-pleasant, but had him develop a bit of a problem _down there_). Had he not protested and insisted he use the guest-room, like a true gentleman (since Hermione's protests seemed to be very much ignored), they probably would have. Of course, his insistence had only made the Grangers' admiration for him multiply, and he was pretty sure he caught Roger and Jane looking at wedding destinations and possible dates. Not that he minded, if it were up to him, they'd already be locked up in some house at some remote island off in the Caribbean screwing their brains out. But alas, Hermione would definitely not be willing right now, least of all after her little "outburst" this afternoon, which still weighed on him immensely. Some part of him, that part that had been given free reign for the past seven years, just said "screw it all!" and insisted he just put her under the imperius, marry her and then lock them up and not let her out of his sight. But another part, much smaller, much quieter, that had remained ignored for years but was still all too present, insisted he couldn't, that he should do the right thing, at least when it came to _her. _

So that's how he'd gotten through dinner,

Still very respectful and attentive to the Grangers, but averting Hermione's eyes, and pretty much stuck in his own world. He was worried, too much so, and he didn't know what to do. They'd watched a movie all together, the Grangers had stated they needed to go to work early and left, and he soon declared he needed to go too since he was tired, not wanting to be near Hermione at the moment (something he never EVER EVER thought possible, and which made him question his current state of health).

Imagine his surprise then, when a certain bushy-haired witch came into his room, wearing a much-too-revealing night-gown (_down, Potter, down! Now is NOT the time to ravage her and make her scream out your name in ecsta… DOWN!) _and an expression that he couldn't quite identify.

"Can I come in?" she stated unsurely, and he could do nothing but nod, since the rest of his brain and body function were all concentrated elsewhere.

She approached him and sat down next to him, terribly unsure on how to start. She noticed he was just wearing some pajama pants, his bare chest very… tempting, to say the least, and she flushed. She chastised herself, she needed to concentrate. She still couldn't believe herself. Here was her adorable, charming, respectful and extremely hot boyfriend who seemed to worship the ground she walked on (when had he changed so much anyway? The Harry from last year would have certainly not treated her with such open devotion), who had pretty much snubbed her cousin, a girl who was much prettier than her and who no other boy had ever resisted, and yet she had, in the matter of a single day, hurt him not once but twice. Granted, he didn't show it, but she could tell, she had seen the way his smile had faltered on both occasions. They needed to speak about this. So she took a deep breath and began.

"About today, Harry… I need to apologize."

"What ever for?"

_Don't be so nice about it, Harry! _Her brain practically screamed _You just make me feel even more guilty!_ "Don't play dumb, Harry, please, you know very well what for. I'm sorry for not telling my parents about us… I honestly didn't mean anything by it. I just… I don't even know what I thought. It's embarrassing."

Harry just grinned, seemingly relieved to hear her and motioned for her to come close. She did so reluctantly, still feeling guilty, and held her close. When had he become so affectionate? Last year he still flinched at the mere thought of physical contact. Which reminded her… the Dursleys, she still had to find out just how badly they treated Harry, but not before apologizing for today's comment.

"That makes me very relieved, for a while there I thought you might be ashamed of me"

She was awe-struck. She? Ashamed of _him? Harry Potter? _What girl on Earth could possibly be ashamed of him? "Oh, Harry! Oh, no, you got it all wrong. It was out of some strange notion of my part. I thought if I said it aloud I would jinx it, dumb as that sounds, especially coming from me."

Harry looked at her weirdly, then smiled and held her close once again "You can be awfully dense at times Hermione. It's a good thing we got this cleared out though, cause I intend to parade you around Hogwarts castle by my arm and tell every single person we encounter that you're very much taken, thank you very much."

Hermione giggled, but then inquired "Really, Harry? Since we never told the Weasleys I thought perhaps you wouldn't want our relationship to be known out of some strange notion that I would be that much more vulnerable to Voldemort, or something."

"Don't be silly, I never told them cause I didn't want to be pestered by Ron and Ginny. Now that I live on my own though, there's nothing stopping me. Oh, and believe me, it was quite a hassle to get out of that house, but I couldn't stand another minute being away from you. And believe me, as soon as we get to Hogwarts, I'll stand on top of the dinner table and announce it for all to hear. You'd be vulnerable to Voldemort simply because you're my friend and muggle-born anyway, thinking that would just be dumb."

Hermione smiled. When had he matured so much? He'd changed, and a lot, both physically and mentally. For some reason, there was something about this change that made her uneasy, but she pushed it aside.

"And now Harry" she began "I want… I mean… I'm sorry for today. I just blurted it out because I was exasperated with the whole situation, and my parents and… I most certainly do not want to break up with you anytime soon!"

Harry's smile became even wider, and his eyes shined with happiness and relief "I'm glad… so glad to hear that" he held her extremely tight to his chest now, and began planting kisses all over her face "And I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made those kinds of comments."

"No Harry, don't apologize. I took it way too personally; I should have known you were joking."

Something flashed across Harry's face, and she felt she had made another mistake "You weren't joking." It was a statement, not a question.

He sighed "I'm sorry. I don't want to make you uncomfortable; we've barely dated a few days. Just forget I ever said anything." He pulled back, and she found herself craving the contact.

"No, Harry, no" she grabbed his hand and pulled him close "It's a bit too much to take in, that you could already think that far ahead… I guess I don't have the typical problem where the guy can't stick to a commitment" she chuckled. _Of course you don't _though Harry _I've been commited to you for the past seven years, and you weren't even there. I haven't even glanced at another girl. _

"To be honest, when I was in first year and my crush for you had just started developing, I used to have dreams of us and our wedding day."

Harry grinned "Oh, really, and how exactly were they?"

"And why would you want to know, Mr. Potter?" she stated coyly.

"So I can make them come true some day" he stated simply, and honestly.

Now, Hermione was most definitely not a love-struck dumb girl, nor was she unrealistic about teenage relationships, but she was pretty sure Harry meant this, and very much so, and she wasn't exactly opposed to the idea. And he had just said something that most teenage girls would most definitely swoon over, and she naturally could not therefore, hope to control her reaction.

She jumped him.

Literally.

One moment they were both there, sitting atop his bed, and the next she was somehow lying on top of Harry, her mouth prodding his, and her nails already scratching his naked skin. She payed no heed to the fact that they were both in very little clothing, and Harry had first simply stared, wide-eyed at her, then was all too eager to respond.

His hand roamed the naked skin of her stomach (wait, how did it get there?...) and she couldn't help but moan into their kiss. She needed him. He had such a strange effect on her. He made her feel light-headed… wanted. And really, after forgiving her for all she did, and the little display he put on for her darling cousin Eugenia, he deserved a reward, she reasoned. The fact that she was enjoying giving him this reward? That was just a bonus.

The spell was broken, though, once she felt his wandering hand all too close to her breasts, and something that was most definitely NOT his wand, pressing against her. Somehow, he sensed her uneasiness and quickly detangled himself from her.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I got carried away!"

She found it endearing how he was so shy in that regard (if only she knew his real thoughts, she would most definitely change her mind about this, though. But he did not want to ruin everything by pressuring her… even though he very much WANTED to and had to struggle not to use certain…methods to otherwise dissuade her. But alas, he loved her too much for it. DAMN IT!)

She was also very… flattered, despite herself. It was empowering, to know he desired her so much, to know that she had such a strong hold of him. She couldn't help but smile and grabbed his hand "If I hadn't wanted that to happen, I would have stopped you Harry. Believe me, I wanted it, and enjoyed it. A lot."

Harry grinned. Although he suspected this would be a long night. Such an intense session would surely give him LOTS of fuel for his Hermione-filled night fantasies. Oh god, he really hoped he wouldn't moan in his sleep. He'd have to sound-proof his room, just in case.

With a brief little case, and feeling relieved that things were now okay between them, Hermione left a very flustered Harry alone in his room.

The rest of the weekend passed by rather uneventfully. The Grangers were absolutely enchanted with Harry, and they made sure to extend an invitation for Christmas break. Roger had already reserved two spots for the father and son yuletide golf tournament, and had discreetly told Harry only sons, son-in-laws or future son-in-laws (meaning they were already properly engaged), could enter, none too subtly implying he better hurry up and pop the question. Harry did not know whether to be ecstatic or disturbed.

On Sunday, they went over to check out Harry's apartment. They weren't the least bit surprised to find out that it was located in the most expensive complex in the city, since they now knew that Harry was extremely wealthy, and a lord to boot, not to mention their house was located in the more expensive part of town to start with. What they did not expect was to find out Harry did not own one apartment (which was already extremely spacey), but three. The top floor, to be precise, and that they had all been modified and molded together, resulting in a grand total of three kitchens, six bathrooms, three living rooms, and eight bedrooms. Four of the bedrooms had remained as such, and the other four had been turned into a Jacuzzi, a gym, a spa, and a library. The library didn't have many books yet, but Harry assured Hermione they would go to Diagon Alley as soon as Christmas break rolled around. The smile she gave him was a reward in itself. The "session" that followed at night wasn't too shabby either. Harry decided that if Hermione would reward him in such ways every time he pleased her, he would most definitely please her any day he could. Who knows, if he did something really outstanding, perhaps they could even… stop it, Potter, perverted thoughts, perverted thoughts!

Before he knew it, Monday had rolled around, and he was now sitting with the Granger family, eating the breakfast that he had insisted to cook.

Since the Grangers had outright refused to let him cook at any other time, they were now deeply regretting their decision, and had fallen even more in love with him, if that was even possible.

"Oh, son, if I had known you were such a wonderful cook… would you mind not going to Hogwarts and just staying here, delighting us with your presence and cooking for us? It's not like you need an education anyways, you're set, and I'm sure you wouldn't even depart from Hermione and she probably won't agree, but we can keep her as a hostage, no one has to know" she whispered conspirationally.

"Mom, I am most definitely not going to be kept as a hostage. Harry will finish his education, not leave it because you want him to cook for you, and third, why on Earth are you calling him son!?"

"Oh Harry, you don't mind do you? I already see you as the boy I never had. Oh, I am so glad Hermione found you, and that you liked her back. She's always been smart, you know, but sometimes I worried she'd never be interested in any boy, and yet you come along and bless us in this way… " she had tears in her eyes, SERIOUSLY "I will miss you my boy, I can't believe you're already living."

Hermione wanted to remark that she had known Harry for a total of three days and had managed quite well without him in the past, but resigned herself to the fact that it probably would have been no use at all. She then thought she heard some sort of sniffing sound from across the table and saw her father, of all people, wiping away a tear. Now, they had always been extremely weird, but this was just plan disturbing.

Harry, though, then had the brilliant idea of asking Dumbledore for permission to leave on some weekend during the school year, and invite them all to his castle in Scotland, as they had previously joked about at the restaurant. Hermione could have sworn the smile on her mother's face was threatening to fall off. The next thing she knew, Harry was being hugged by two very excited parents, whispering something along the lines of "We'll be seeing you again soon… I'm so glad!"

They had never acted this way when she'd left! Not even in her first year! She was starting to get a bit peeved, to be honest, but Harry noticed it and hugged her once her parents had released him, a gesture that was received with a long "awwww".

Before they knew it, it was time to go to the train station, and after another round of goodbyes and a fresh batch of tears (again, all this for Harry, not for her, the DAUGHTER!), and quite a few people coming onto Harry exclaiming their wonder and admiration at his prowess and waving copies of the daily prophet on their faces (which gave a very detailed and exaggerated report on the whole business at the world cup), they had hopped onto the train.

Hermione was most definitely surprised when, all the other compartments being full, nobody asked to come into theirs, since they had plenty of space. She did not suspect, of course, the fact that Harry had placed a silent notice-me-not charm on it, so that nobody would want to come in and disturb them. He had a full year ahead of him, filled with the tri-wizards tournament, people out to kill him, a manipulative Dumbledore, a Viktor Krum that would most definitely NOT be getting anywhere near his girlfriend, two back-stabbing redheads and a manipulative headmaster. The only thing that really mattered to him, though, was spending quality time with Hermione and thus, he planned to spend every free second with her, preferably undisturbed. Thus the notice-me-not charm.

"So what will we be telling the Weasleys, since we don't plan on hiding our relationship?" asked Hermione, concerned.

"The truth" stated Harry simply. If they can't accept it, well, that's their problem."

Hermione smiled at his answer and snuggled up to him. They spent the rest of the ride that way, talking and stealing not-so-ocassional (that is to say, very frequent) kisses. All too soon, they had arrived, and were forced to face the Weasleys, but Harry simply greeted them, not yet revealing anything, which confused Hermione. He also dropped her hand the moment they stepped out of the train. Hadn't he said they were not going to keep it a secret? Could he really be ashamed of her? Perhaps he'd reconsidered once he saw all the girls, now looking at him very appreciatively? No, she shook these thought aside. This was Harry of all people, and Harry, new attitude or not, would never do such a thing.

They stepped into the Great Hall, side by side but still not holding each other's hands, and sat down together. The Weasley twins joined them on one side, and Ron on the other, much to Harry's dismay. Neville sat before them, though, and Harry was eager to become friends with him. Well, not eager, since he really had no real interest in anyone but Hermione (and her parents, more or less), but he wasn't a back-stabbing traitor, so it wouldn't be bad to have him as a friend.

He noticed how many girls were eyeing him thanks to his new and improved appearance, and were it not for the scar and glasses, probably wouldn't have recognized him. He did a quick scan of their thoughts and found out they had some very… interesting ideas, and were most definitely planning on seducing him. He honestly couldn't tell whether to be amused or disgusted. Any girl who wasn't Hermione held no interest to him, and soon, they would all know it. Oh yes.

Dumbledore stood up and made the announcement he knew he would make, about the tri-wizard tournament. Everyone reacted accordingly surprised, and he had to force himself to act shocked as well.

Durmstrang strutted in and Harry was glad to see there was no hint of anything resembling admiration shining in Hermione's eyes when she saw Victor Krum, which, of course, made him smile smugly. The next up were Beauxbatons, and the effect that Fleur Delacour had on the male population was all too obvious. Her eyes settled on Harry. The great Harry Potter was supposed to be only fourteen and yet he looked at least sixteen or seventeen, and very very dreamy. Fleur stared at him and smiled. Perhaps coming to this place had been worthwhile after all.

Hermione, though, noticed this and turned to Harry. When she saw that he hadn't even noticed Fleur since he was much too busy staring with a love-struck and admiring expression at her, of all people, she grabbed his hand and smiled at him, having to control herself not to snog him then and there. Harry did not know what had elicited this reaction, but was very happy that she was looking at him that way.

The great hall finally settled down, and Harry knew it was time to put his plan into action. All of a sudden, he stood up, and cleared his throat.

"Harry, what are you…"

Harry did not answer and Hermione didn't even finish her question, for he had suddenly stepped ON TOP of the Gryffindor table, and pointed at his throat, performing a sonorous _silently and wandlessly. _Which was not unnoticed by the Hogwarts students and was a shock in itself, met with many looks of shock.

_Wait, no… it couldn't be. _

"My fellow students and fellow guests" Harry began.

_He couldn't have possibly meant it. _

"I stand before you today because I have an announcement to make" he continued.

_Am I dreaming? Yes, this must definitely be a dream, there is no other explanation. _

"And it's very simple, since I don't want anyone finding out through some newspaper or something later on, I would like to say that I am officially dating the most beautiful and smart and perfect girl in Hogwarts. That's right, I'm taken, whipped, and I LIKE IT!"

As would be expected, this was met with murmurs of disbelief. Who could he possibly be talking about. Who could possibly have captured the boy-who-lived-to-become-hot-as-hell's heart?

They didn't have to wait long for their answer.

"So without further ado, I'd like to day I am head-over-heels in love with Hermione Jane Granger!"

And with these words, he leaned down, grabbed her hand, pulled her up to him, and kissed her, on top of the Gryffindor table, right in the great hall, for all to see.

_There guys. It was a tiny bit shorter than my regular chapters, but hey, at least I published it rather quickly, and I thought it was a pretty good point to leave it at._

_I hope you've been enjoying this so far __ Now, if you would like to review, believe me, it inspires me GREATLY to keep on writing and publishing all that much faster. _

_Have a good day everyone :D_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello guys. Thanks a lot to all those who reviewed. Actually, scratch that, I'm not sure whether to be thankful or not, cause I'm currently taking my last exams for the school year, and instead of studying and doing projects, as I should be doing, the reviews guilt-tripped me into hurrying up and updating XD_

_But alas, I guess I shall just have to hurry up so that I can continue studying. So without further ado, here's the chapter. _

Ronald Bileous Weasley was NOT happy. He was angry, he was jealous, he was mad and he was _hurt. _All thanks to Harry Bloody Potter.

All through the summer, he'd tried to be a good friend, and yet Harry kept ignoring him. And then, merely a few days back, he'd claimed he needed to go back to the Dursleys, that it was a matter of urgency, that he would explain later, and that he had been ordered by Dumbledore to leave as soon as possible. Ron had believed him, and had even watched him board on the Knight Bus and leave. And yet, a few days later Dumbledore had sent a letter, asking how Harry was, and after a while of confusion, the whole family, as well as the Hogwarts Headmaster, realized they'd been duped.

Now, Ron was not well-known for his easy temper, or his ability to forgive. But he'd been prepared to let Harry explain himself. He did genuinely enjoy the time they spent together, and the fame and prestige that came with associating with the boy who lived was not something he was willing to let go either. Now, though, as he watched his supposed best mate kiss, in front of the whole great hall, their mutual friend, and the girl who Ron had begun to take a bit of a liking to this summer, he became livid. He wasn't the brightest wand in the… err… place where they sell wands, he admitted. But even he could put the pieces together. When they'd been at the cup, the two had just been friends. Then Hermione left, followed by Harry a few days later, and now they were a couple. They had obviously spent time together the last days of summer, and had purposely excluded _him, _the best friend!

Oh, they would hear it from him, they definitely would.

.. … … …

Ginny Weasley could not believe what was going on. Her hero, the boy she'd loved ever since she was but a baby, the one that had saved her from Riddle's clutches, effectively declaring himself (in her mind, at least), as her knight in shining armour, was kissing, in front of everyone to see, Hermione Granger, bookworm extraordinaire. How he could see anything in her, she did not know. He was the savior of the wizarding world after all! And she was just so… so plain and bookish! And a muggleborn. Now, she definitely wasn't prejudiced about such a thing, her family had a history of being kind to all those of lower blood status, after all. But everyone knew that a pureblood witch was still much better than a mudbloo…err… muggleborn!

Ginny frowned. This particular mudbloo…muggleborn (cough,c ough), was also known as the smartest witch of her year. She must have dosed him with a love potion, she was sure. Why else would Harry Potter, _her _prince, be with someone else? He was destined for her, and they would marry someday, her mother had always told her so.

She needed to do something to protect her man.

… … …

Barty Crouch Jr., currently disguised as Alastor Moody, was…surprised.

So Potter had a girlfriend, eh? And by the looks of it, he must be really infatuated with her, to be kissing her openly in the great hall. If he had half his fame at that age, he probably would have played the field a bit, before settling down. It seemed Potter was different though. He decided to put this little nugget of information aside for a bit, you never know when it can come useful. Who knows, perhaps he could even play this to his advantage, and receive a juicy reward from his master.

.. … … …

Minerva McGonagall couldn't help but smile.

Though she did not openly show it, she had quite the weak spot for young Mister Potter. And Hermione… well, she was her prized student, that, everyone knew. She'd been pretty sure, for a while, that they would get together, and she couldn't help but be happy for them, even pushing aside (at least for the moment), that this open display of affection was a serious breach of etiquette. Not to mention she was pretty sure standing up on the dining table was against school rules…

But she would let that slide for today. After all, she'd just won a hefty sum from the Headmaster. Honestly, how he could ever predict that Mister Potter and Miss Weasley would ever get together was simply beyond her. The two barely talked after all! She, on the other hand, had noticed the signs between the shy young man and the girl who was always standing by his side. They would make a pretty good couple, she knew, and she could only hope that Miss Granger would prove to be a good influence on Mr. Potter's study habits, not the other way around.

… … …

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was… concerned.

It wasn't that he didn't like the couple that Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger made. He could see a spark there, definitely, and he didn't think it was his business who Mr. Potter dated, but there was definitely a problem…

That problem being the marriage contract that he'd signed with Mrs. Weasley, in return for the Weasley's support within the Order. The Weasleys might have been rather poor, but they had connections. Thanks to their help, a second Order had been assembled, which was on standby, ready for Voldemort's return. Their support had been key in his plans, and he was only able to get it through Harry. Molly had also asked for a share of Harry's inheritance, but he'd vehemently refused. He already felt guilty enough for taking some of it to finance the order, even though he kept reminding himself it was all for the greater good.

If the Weasleys withdrew their support, he might have a problem. He just had to wait and see. After all, a school romance was very unlikely to turn into marriage. Harry and Ms. Granger would just date, realize they weren't made to be, and Miss Weasley would then appear to claim Harry's heart.

At least, he hoped so…

.. … …

Fleur Delacour was… amused.

So this Harry Potter had a girlfriend. Upon entering, she'd noticed that he was almost the only guy worthy of her. A Veela had a natural instinct to always seek the best possible mate, and this boy, although younger, was giving off an irresistible amount of testosterone and confidence, a deadly combination for her Veela blood.

So maybe he had a girlfriend… but many a guy had broken up with their girls trying to get close to her (always ultimately failing). She didn't know this girl, though, nor did she personally wish her any harm.

She decided she would just turn up her charm, and see how it went.

.. … …

Hermione Jane Granger was torn between exhilaration and mortification.

She, the prudish, plain and annoyingly bossy bookworm of Hogwarts, had not only been announced as the boy-who-lived's girlfriend, but was also KISSING him in front of the whole SCHOOL.

What would her parents think? On second thought, that wasn't a good question to ask herself. Knowing them, and knowing how much they loved Harry, her mom would probably be swooning at the sight and screaming something like "You go girl!" or something equally preposterous. She, on the other hand, could not be quite so care-free. She was blushing from head to toe. But there was something… empowering, about being here, feeling all those envious stares on her. She decided to surrender to this feeling of exhilaration and smiled into the kiss, for once, letting someone sweep her off her feet.

.. … …. …

Harry James Potter was on top of the world.

He'd just announced to everyone that he was Hermione's boyfriend, and not only that, but he was kissing her in front of everyone at Hogwarts, on top of the Gryffindor table, no less. Honestly, he'd half-expected the girl to slap him, and yet she didn't resist and just kissed him back, which made him all the more joyous and triumphant. Everybody now knew that Hermione was _his_ and he definitely planned to make sure everybody had that very well in mind, because no one was going to take her away.

He opened his eyes just the slightest bit and noticed Moody/Crouch Jr. eyeing him intently, and, had his mouth not been occupied in more pleasant activities, he would have smirked. No doubt Crouch Jr. was already planning on how to use his relationship with Hermione against him. What he didn't know was that Harry already had a plan. He hadn't, after all, become the world's most powerful dark lord by being stupid.

Deciding it was time to confront people's reactions, he finally let go of Hermione, who, he noticed, was blushing profusely, and turned to the Great Hall.

Now, Harry had been expecting a great number of reactions, but he had not planned for the overwhelming applause and cheering that followed. He couldn't help but smile, a genuine smile, much to his chagrin. He had to quickly remind himself that most of these people could just as easily boo him, and he hated their hypocrisy. He did notice, however, that neither Ron, Snape, Ginny or Dumbledore were clapping, which was really no surprise. McGonagall seemed very…cheery, though, and she was clapping quite eagerly, which again, brought an unwelcome smile to his face. He turned towards those he knew would become champions. Krum seemed interested in Hermione… too interested, and he consciously growled under his breath. Fleur was eyeing him with the strangest expression, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it could be.

Hermione, for her part, could not believe that so many people were clapping. She, of course, suspected many of those clapping were only doing it out of a mob mentality, and by tomorrow would most certainly be trying to steal her Harry away, but she wouldn't let them. Not that she needed to worry, because even she, with her low self-esteem issues, had come to accept that this boy breathed and lived for her, something which she could still not wrap her head around, though. Still, the thought that so many people were glad for them filled her heart with warmth. She turned towards Harry, who had been looking off in the distance and now turned towards her, his gaze holding the most adoring expression, and she couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat.

"We should get down now" he whispered in her ear "God knows we've held their attention long enough."

She laughed then, softly enough for only Harry to hear and he stepped down and offered his hand out to her, like a gentleman, and she couldn't help but smile even more.

They proceeded to eat then, though, much to the couple's chagrin, their fellow Gryffindors kept asking them questions about their new-found relationship, and even a couple people from other tables approached them.

Thankfully though, the evening went by rather quickly, and soon enough, they were allowed to go back to their bedrooms. But Harry had a little something he had to take care of first. Forcing himself to wrench free from Hermione (because really, it was physically painful for him to be away from her when she was in the same building!), he told her he'd bumped into Moody and he'd told him to come to his office later tonight. Fortunately, he'd gone to the bathroom earlier while Moody was nowhere to be seen, so this excuse was plausible enough.

He was honestly tempted to just postpone this so he could have some quality time with his gorgeous, utterly kissable girlfriend, but decided he ought to do it as soon as possible as to not arouse any suspicion, and, he reasoned, the sooner he got it over with, the sooner he could concentrate on making Hermione fall hopelessly in love with him and marry him and bear his children.

It was moments later that he found himself in Crouch Jr./Moody's office, the disguised death eater looking at him with surprise.

"My, Harry Potter, I see. I intended to meet you soon. What brings you here tonight?"

Harry smiled coldly, taking the death eater by surprise "Ah, nothing much really, just decided to have a chat about what you and your master are planning for this year.

When Harry saw the normally intimidating body of Moody, visibly pale at this statement, his smile grew even more feral.

"What are you talking about, Potter?"

"Exactly what I just told you, Mr. Moody… or should I say… Mr. Crouch" the death eater's eyes widened in shock "Oh yes, I know it all, all about your plan, who you truly are… the fact that the real Alastor Moody is hidden in a trunk and the flask that you hold in your hand is actually a poly-juice potion."

If possible, Crouch grew even paler, but to his credit, he came to his senses soon after and grabbed his wand "So you know about it Potter. Too bad, this might carry some negative consequences later on, but it can't be helped. You'll be coming with me."

"Ah-ah-ah" chided Harry mockingly "You'll find that I won't be going anywhere, and neither will you."

"You arrogant little… expelliarmus!" he shouted, and smiled in triumph when Harry's wand flew straight into his hand "Not so tough without your wand now, eh, Potter?"

Harry laughed. And it wasn't a happy laugh either. It was mocking… mocking him.

"You know. If I were any other wizard, I'd be pretty screwed right now" he narrowed his eyes "Fortunately, I'm not."

Harry waved his hand, and before he knew what was happening, Crouch found himself listening to a soft, compelling voice. Now, Crouch had been trained. He thrived in the dark arts, and he was confident of his ability at throwing off the imperius curse. But this was different. More powerful somehow. It overwhelmed him.

"Now" whispered Harry, still in that soothing, silky voice "You don't work for Voldemort now, but for me, Harry Potter. You will continue carrying on with your duties as professor as you would have done otherwise, but whenever you have any sort of contact with your previous master, you will come straight to me. You will tell no one of this, and won't even be aware of the curse until a situation arises in which I need of your assistance. I'm going to leave now, but you will escort me to Gryffindor tower, and claim you wanted to discuss some spellwork with me, since you'd heard I was a natural at defense against the dark arts. Are we clear?"

Moody/Crouch nodded, his eyes vacant.

Harry smirked "Good."

This had gone better than he expected. Now all he had to do was get to his dorm, write a letter, and half his work would be done. Okay, perhaps not half… but hey, he was sure as hell getting there.

He turned around suddenly, realizing something.

"Oh, and Crouch? You will never, no matter who tells you to do so, or what reason you have, harm Hermione Granger. In fact, you are to protect her with your life."

.. .. … …. …..

Two days later, on the day that they were to begin classes, Hermione noticed that her boyfriend was heading down to breakfast in an unusually good mood, but when she asked him why this was, he merely replied he was just happy that they were together. Naturally, she could only respond to this piece of news by "rewarding" said boyfriend with a kiss (or two or three).

When they stepped into the Great Hall some time later, however, both a bit flushed and flustered, everybody immediately silenced and turned to look at them, and she couldn't help but feel something was most definitely wrong. Some people smiled suddenly, while others turned around and _sobbed!_

They sat beside Neville and Seamus, Ron still refusing to speak to Harry since the day of their kiss (which really, could not have been more welcome by Harry), and Ginny well… it seemed that the couple's new-found relationship had given her the confidence boost she needed to openly pursue Harry. Fortunately, Harry always made sure to keep his distance and went out of his way to be as far away from her as possible, or else Hermione feared she might do something very uncharacteristic of her. Like hexing the witch for pursuing her man. This new jealous and possessive side was very new to her, and she did not like it, but Harry seemed to _revel _in it, which she thought exceedingly strange but also oddly comforting.

So she began her day very happily. Seamus and Neville were acting weird though, and stealing glances at Harry. A boy who she'd never seen before in her life approached her dear boyfriend and cried in front of him, then whispered "I'm so so sorry. So sorry!" and left crying. Then a girl whom she'd never seen before approached her, gave her a hug, and told her she was an exemplary human being. She was starting to get seriously freaked out, and then an owl arrived with her Daily Prophet, and she gasped, suddenly realizing what was happening.

There, on the very front page, in BIG, BOLD LETTERS, was today's title:

_Boy-Who-Lived Bewitched by Smartest Witch of Her Year_

_That's right, ladies and gentlemen of the wizarding community. Your eyes do not deceive you. Many a girl shall weep her heart out at this news, no doubt, but Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World and one of the most sought-after young bachelors in our world (especially after his summer transformation. Did anybody else see those muscles at Diagon Alley this summer? Oh my) is now officially taken, by none other than Hermione Jane Granger, reportedly the smartest witch of her year and in several decades. Here at the Prophet, we have managed to gain exclusive rights to this incredible tale of love and friendship, and we now can, our fellow readers, happily share it with you. _

_The boy-who-lived himself agreed to speak for us in a very rare interview, and had this to say: _

"_I don't know what people have hypothesized about my childhood, but it wasn't anything spectacular. Depressing is more like it" at this, he sobers up and lowers his head "I was not… treated too well. I was left with my aunt and uncle and my cousin, and they proceeded to make sure that for the first eleven years of my life, I remained ignorant of my heritage. I was not fed well, all my clothes consisted of much too large hand-me-downs from my obese cousin, and I wasn't given a bedroom. Rather, a cupboard under the stairs, where I would be locked in whenever I did not do what was expected of me, or behaved in any "freaky" way. My aunt and uncle somehow believed that my magic could be beaten out of me, and because of this magic, they called me a "freak". I didn't even know what my name was until I turned seven" at this, he smiles sadly, and this reporter has to struggle to contain a sob "Always being called "boy" or "freak", well, it gets to you. And I never had a birthday present either. My "family" wouldn't give me one, and I had no friends at school since my cousin would threaten to beat them up if they were to associate with me." He pauses, and smiles genuinely this time "And then one day I meet this giant, who tells me about all this wonderful things, and I am suddenly thrown into this strange new world where people know my name. Where I'm famous. But somehow, it just didn't seem enough. People saw me as the boy-who-lived not as myself."_

_By this point, it must be noted that this reporter was openly crying, and Harry Potter, who should really be the one being comforted, held a handkerchief to me. The admiration that this reporter now feels for this young man cannot be expressed in words. He smiles again, but this time, his smile is radiant, ecstatic "And then I met __**her. **__I had just met Ron Weasley, and we were hanging in our compartment and she stepped in, with this awfully bossy tone of voice and claiming she'd already read every book there was to read. I was totally intimidated and even a bit annoyed… but most of all, I felt admiration. We were off to a rough start, to be honest, but in the months that followed, we became friends. And as that friendship grew and carried me through the next years, I realized there was something different about her. One day, it finally came to me. This was it. She was the only one who truly saw me as Harry. She was the one who saved me all the time. I needed her in my life, and this summer, I finally propped up the courage to ask her out. The past few weeks… they've made up for everything I ever felt at the hands of the Dursleys, for every moment of suffering. I have never been happier."_

_And it was with this parting words that Mr. Potter said goodbye, leaving this reporter in tears and now convinced that love is indeed real. _

_Though at first disappointed by the news, this reporter now believes that Miss Granger is an exemplary human being, and that the whole wizarding world owes her its gratitude, for making our savior so happy. On behalf of everyone at the daily prophet, we want to say, Thank you, Hermione! And please continue loving our boy-who-lived! _

_On another note, we have researched just who these relatives of Mr. Potter are, and on page 8 you can find their names and address. Now, here at the Daily Prophet, we most certainly do not advocate violence, but if some witch or wizard were to accidentally stumble upon that area of town and accidentally hex these people into oblivion, well… accidents happen. _

Hermione was speechless. Her first reaction was to ask her boyfriend what the hell had he been thinking. Then his words in the interview caught up to her, and all thoughts of a reprimand were long forgotten. She hugged him for all she was worth "Oh Harry" she whispered, trying not to cry "Is this true?"

He smiled sadly at her "Yes. But you shouldn't worry love, I'm emancipated now, remember? I'll never have to see them again. And now I have you" he looked at her, extremely serious now "I… I really meant what I said there. Being with you, knowing you're there for me, it's more than made up for all those years."

"Oh Harry!" she kissed him senseless then, ignoring the catcalls from her fellow Gryffindors.

Once things had calmed down, though, she had to ask "Harry, why on Earth did you do this?"

Harry smiled at her, looking slightly apologetic "After the display on the table the other day, word was bound to get out about us dating. I didn't want any nonsense to be spread, cause you know how the press can be, so I went ahead and offered the prophet an exclusive interview with me, but not after making sure they would only print the truth, and not try to twist it to create drama for the sake of sales." (He had also sort of told Rita Skeeter he knew about her little secret, but he could hardly tell that to Hermione.)

Harry then looked at something over her head and smiled "Brace yourself."

"What do you…" before she could complete her sentence, hundreds of letters had landed on her and Harry both, and she couldn't help but be overwhelmed.

Harry just chuckled "I believe that's your half, mine is this."

"My half, what do you mean my half?"

"Surely you didn't expect to be the girlfriend of the boy-who-lived without getting your own fan-mail? I'll just cast a quick charm to make sure none are jinxed, and then you can start reading."

Hesitantly, Hermione opened the first one:

_Dear Hermione, _

_I cannot believe the atrocities that were commited against Harry,and our savior nonetheless! I thank God that he found you to brighten his life. You are an extraordinary witch, and I, as well as all my family, am glad he chose you._

_Best wishes,_

_Jannet Davis_

Harry's letters were similar enough in their nature:

_Harry, _

_Forgive me for my informality, but I feel almost as if I had known you always. The day in which you saved us all was one of the most joyous of my life, and I, as well as all of the wizarding world, owe so much to you. To think of what you suffered at the hands of this people makes my blood boil. I just want to say thank you, for being with us and being such a wonderful man even after this cruel treatment. _

_I am glad you found love, and hope you will continue being this happy for many years to come. _

_Best wishes, _

_Johnathan Newmann_

_P.S.- My wife and I are already preparing the pitchforks. _

When Hermione saw this line, instead of laughing though, as Harry would have expected she growled. Hesitantly, he asked "What's the matter, love?"

She was frowning "Like hell I'll let this strangers deal with those monsters. I've got dibs!"

_Well guys, this was it. I shall now go back to being a good student, despite the fact that it's already pretty late and I have a slim chance of actually getting any work done today. But alas, the muse is the muse. _

_As always, reviews are very much appreciated and really encourage me along. Until next time! _


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello there guys. So I'm finally free from school now! Wow, I am just ecstatic. No more exams or projects, so hopefully, I'll be able to update more often now. Anyways, enjoy: **_

_Our_ _darling Hermione, _

_We were delighted to receive yesterday's Daily Prophet and loved reading Harry's article. It is amazing just how famous that boy is, and his level of devotion to you. I (meaning your mother) am very disappointed in you, however, because you did not inform me of the passionate kiss you shared in front of the whole school. To think that I would find out about it from a picture in the newspaper! I trust that you will now answer back and give us a detailed account of such an event. _

_Aside from that, we want to tell you that we love you, and miss you (and Harry) already. Keep doing as well in your classes as you always do (as if you need any prompting, hehe), and continue being the marvelous girl you have always been. _

_Love,_

_Mom and Dad_

_P.S. We have attached a newspaper article. Please share it with Harry, we suspect it might brighten both your days. _

Hermione sighed and turned towards her boyfriend, who was reading the letter from over her shoulder and grinning like mad. They were currently sitting in the Gryffindor common room, sharing a couch, Hermione sitting on Harry's lap.

"I think they love you more than they love me"

"Nonsense" he answered "You're their daughter, it's their duty to love you and place you above anything else in this world… they're just happy that you snagged such a fine young man as your boyfriend."

She rolled her eyes "Modest today, aren't we?"

Harry flashed a smile at her "Of course, you bring out the best in me, after all, my dear."

Hermione frowned "My dear?"

"Would you prefer my darling?"

She scrunched up her nose "That makes us sound like an old married couple"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, his eyes twinkling with amusement "We'll be one one day, so why not start practicing?"

Hermione just rolled her eyes at him, but struggled to conceal a smile "Anyway, we should see the newspaper article my parents sent."

Her boyfriend readily agreed.

As she opened the article, they both gasped.

_**Son Missing, Parents Gone Mad**_

_That's right, folks. Yesterday, at exactly 5:20 of the afternoon, two residents of Number 4, Private Drive in Little Whinging, a Mr. Vernon and Petulia Dursley were apprehended and hospitalized for their irrational conduct. The woman had been trying to climb a tree over and over (unsuccessfully, it must be noted), muttering something about needing to feed on the leaves, while her husband rolled in a puddle of mud making strange noises that sounded suspiciously like those of a pig. The neighbors alerted the police of this strange behavior, who quickly arrived and assessed the situation. The couple have a son, Dudley Dursley, who appears to have disappeared, and is now being searched for by the authorities. _

_Oddly enough, a young killer whale was found swimming in their neighbors' pool. The whale has now been relocated to a safe environment and the neighbors, whose names are not to be disclosed, were interrogated. It appears though, that they have no idea how the whale got there. _

_When asked if anything of interest had happened prior to these successions, several local residents replied that they had witnessed a group of strangely-dressed men and women heading for the Dursley's home all throughout the day. The authorities are now trying to discover how all of these strange occurrences tie together. _

Hermione glanced worriedly at Harry "Are you okay with this, Harry?"

"Okay? I'm ecstatic! They got what they deserved"

As much as this statement surprised Hermione (who was used to a very forgiving Harry), she couldn't help but agree and was overjoyed herself. Harry noticed a light frown adorn her face though, and asked what was wrong.

"Oh, I'm very glad, Harry, believe me, but I was serious before. I wanted to take care of them myself!"

Harry chuckled and merely held her tight "I'm sure you'll figure something out, love. You aren't the smartest witch ever for nothing, after all."

Hermione turned to him "Well, I guess I could try to cure them and turn Dudley back into a human and then try to do something even worse to them…." She mumbled, the wheels in her head already turning.

Harry smiled, gently kissing her cheek.

Hermione was still very surprised at just how affectionate Harry was with her. Granted, they'd only began school a few days ago, but he was always holding her hand, hugging her, kissing her… as if he couldn't get enough. She had read that when people were abused, they had trouble initiating physical contact, and she was glad that this was not the case with Harry. She had noticed that he didn't ever touch anyone else though, appearing uncomfortable with even the pat in the back that he had received the other day from Seamus as a greeting.

She still didn't believe just how abused he had been. How could anyone treat a little boy that way? She was so glad Harry was emancipated now, and would never go back to those horrible relatives of his. What surprised her even more was how he could grow to become the sweet, caring boy that she had come to care so much for, when he had such people as his role models. In a way, she was actually sort of grateful. Perhaps the Dursleys had, in a sick, twisted way, helped Harry become the outstanding young man that would become her boyfriend.

She sighed dreamily and leaned into his chest. She felt so much at ease when she was with him… so peaceful.

But then, of course, Ron had to come in and ruin her amazing mood (and she was just about to snog him senseless too!)

The redhead didn't say much, just glanced murderously at them and left, but the mood had been broken. She had made numerous attempts to speak to Ron since they'd arrived at Hogwarts, but for some reason, he'd been avoiding them. Harry had later explained to her that he had left without telling them the truth, because he feared Dumbledore would interfere with his plans and he needed to settle several things at the bank. Hermione understood Ron's position, of course, but the boy wasn't allowing Harry any chance to apologize! At this, Harry had replied that Ron would eventually cool down and they'd talk. Meanwhile, he would just give him some space, and Hermione had agreed. But still, she couldn't help but feel that this cold treatment was going too far…

The mood now effectively ruined anyway, the duo decided to head to that day's corresponding DADA class, walking hand in hand of course, since Harry wouldn't have it any other way (he couldn't allow any boy to even consider getting close to his beautiful little bookworm, now, could he?).

After a while into the class, Moody began to ask questions about the Unforgivables, and Harry realized today would be the day that they would be subjected to the Imperius curse. He could throw it off perfectly well, of course, but he couldn't remember whether anyone else had done it in the previous timeline, and he was rather curious about Hermione's proficiency in doing such a thing. If she showed no resistance, he would have to train her a bit. Not that he would ever let her come to harm, anyway, but it was safer to be prepared… ok, no, scratch that, it could arise suspicion from Hermione… she was already shocked enough at his display at the quidditch cup, he couldn't suddenly be an expert on throwing off the Imperius. But he didn't want to pretend to be affected by it, because then he would look _weak. _And he swore he would never ever be weak and pathetic again.

He would have to pretend to have no idea how he managed to throw it off then, he decided, and thus, he did just that.

Moody/Crouch Jr. passed around, throwing the Imperius at students (much to Hermione and Neville's utter shock and dismay), having them dance around, singing at the top of their lungs, acting like monkeys, or doing other equally embarrassing things. Finally, it was Harry's turn, and Moody cast the spell, then ordered him to jump on top of his table and dance in it.

Trying to at least feign having some level of difficulty with this, he glanced at the table longingly, and moved one step towards it… only to turn around, look at the professor in the eye and ask, in his most innocent voice, and feigning confusion "And why would I want to do that?"

The room gasped. Even Moody gasped. Harry smirked inwardly.

"Bark like a dog!" ordered Moody now, testing him.

Harry again feigned confusion, and frowned "But that's silly".

Crouch/Moody stared at him wide-eyed, then smiled "Well, well, Mr. Potter, it would appear that you can throw off the Imperius with complete ease. May I ask how you learned to do such a thing?"

Harry glanced beside him. Hermione was looking at him with a look of intense curiosity… the rest looked either shocked speechless, jealous, or ready to worship him any second now.

"I…do not know, sir" Harry had to struggle to contain his smirk "I could hear your voice telling me to do it, but another voice in my head told me it was silly, so why should I? And that other voice in my head sounded strangely like Hermione (not a total lie… his conscience did occasionally sound like Hermione)… so naturally, I was more inclined to listen to my beautiful girlfriend than you… no offense intended."

Moody laughed, and he could see Hermione beaming, making Harry smile "Well, Ms. Granger sure is a good influence on you then, Potter. And 30 points to Gryffindor. I normally wouldn't give such a large number of points, but what you just did definitely warrants it."

He then turned towards the missing students and grinned "Well, Miss Granger, since it appears you were the one to inspire Mr. Potter's exceptional will-power, we shall go ahead and see how you fare. Ready?"

Hermione nodded.

"Imperius!" Hermione's eyes glazed over "Now Miss Granger. Will you please dance around the room?"

Hermione appeared to offer no resistance at first… then, to everyone's surprise, her dancing slowed down, and her feet appeared to tremble as she moved"

"Ah, she's fighting it I see. Well then, let's try something else. Now, go ahead and kiss that guy over there" Moody pointed to some tall and lanky Slythering who Harry didn't know. But he didn't appear to be too grossed out by the thought of a muggle kissing him, because a lecherous grin adorned his face, and Hermione began walking slowly towards him.

_WHAT! THE HELL! YOU ARE A DEAD MAN CROUCH!_

Harry's eyes blazed with fury. Like hell he would let anybody touch _his _Hermione. Could he get away with killing a student in plain light of day? Oh to tell with it, he would just obliterate everyone and Moody was under his control anyway. He was just about to do just this, when something in Hermione's eyes shifted and returned to her usual brown color, but still retained a bit of a glaze, meaning she was still fighting the curse.

"But no…" she whispered "Harry…"

She then promptly stopped in the middle of the way and simply stood there like a statue. Moody lifted the curse off of her and she turned around and glowered at him "You…kiss…not Harry…kill you…"

She was pretty incensed and not making much sense but Moody merely chuckled and congratulated her "I just wanted to test your limits Miss Granger. Very good job. You didn't throw it off completely, of course, but you managed to do it partially, which is quite the accomplishment. 10 more points to Gryffindor because of this."

Hermione merely sighed, appearing not appeased but not murderous anymore and turned to her boyfriend, who was anything but relaxed.

"Oh, some people will DIE!" he exclaimed with feeling. A couple students heard him and stepped back. Hermione merely chuckled, now amused because of her darling boyfriend's reaction. "Harry" she stated, trying to appease him "You saw that absolutely nothing happened. Believe me, if I had kissed that guy, I would be the first to hex him and Moody's socks off!"

Harry looked at her, and his look was so intense and clouded with such emotion that for a moment, she held her breath "Oh no, Hermione, I must disagree. _I _would. And it would NOT be pretty."

He then looked at her again and seemed to calm down, his eyes brightened, and he looked almost sheepish at his reaction, awkwardly holding her hand. She was shocked by the sheer intensity of his voice, and the way he had said it. As if there would really be a world of pain and torture just because of something as petty as a kiss. For a second, she had even felt scared of Harry, but then she quickly shrugged it aside. This was Harry. Her Harry. He would never hurt her, and she even felt kind of guilty for thinking such a thing. She forced a smile unto her face, hoping he wouldn't be able to tell what her previous train of thought had been, and leaned against him.

He smiled and appeared relieved, and her worries were pushed aside.

No one else in the class managed to throw off the curse even a little bit, and by the end of it, Moody asked Harry to stay behind for a bit. Harry had simply smiled at Hermione and told her he would catch up with her in a bit, pecking her lightly on the cheek. Oh God, he couldn't even be a few minutes away from her!

The young teen turned towards the Death Eater, about to ask what he needed him for, when he noted that his eyes were glazed over, much in the same way all of his students' had been today, and Harry immediately knew what was up.

"So you received orders from the Dark Lord, I expect?" questioned Harry.

Moody/Crouch Jr. nodded "I am expected to cast a Confundus Charm on the Goblet of Fire, so that it believes there is a fourth fictional school, then submit your name as the only candidate for it, thereby guaranteeing you will be elected as a Champion."

Harry nodded. He'd contemplated carefully the best way to proceed, and had concluded it was best to just let things unfold naturally. It was easier to make Voldemort believe he was walking straight into his trap, and then Harry would just overpower him thanks to his amazing abilities and the element of surprise. He would make sure Cedric didn't touch the cup this time, though. A nagging little voice in his head said that this was because he didn't want the boy to die, but he ignored it. Of course that wasn't his motive! He was a Dark Lord from a future time-line! He didn't show compassion! No, he just didn't want Cedric getting in his way, that was it. So then, why did it seem as if he was trying to convince himself of it?

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts "Carry on with the plan, Moody" ordered Harry "And inform me of anything else."

"Yes, master" after this statement, Moody's eyes (well, his eye and his fake eye or whatever) turned to their "normal" color, and he looked at Harry suspiciously "What are you still doing here, Potter?"

"Nothing Professor, just lagged behind on some of my notes, just finished copying them. See you around."

And with these words, Harry Potter left a very confused Moody behind. But Harry could care less, since he had more important things to do. This being finding the love of his life. He had already spent several minutes without her, after all! He could suffer from Hermione withdrawal if this continued, and then things would get ugly. Oh, yes, very ugly.

The days passed by, with everyone excited about the upcoming tournament. The twins predictably, attempted to place their names in it, with hilarious results, and there was just a palpable air of excitement in the castle.

Finally, the day of the Choosing arrived, and Harry sat with Hermione at the Gryffindor table, Neville to his left, Ginny right in front of him (Which he tried his best to ignore. Was it just his imagination or did the girl suddenly appear much bolder than she'd been the first time around?) and Ron at least within a reasonable distance. He'd begun sitting at the far-away end of the table, and appeared to be approaching. Harry assumed the boy was just about to attempt reconciliation, and Harry most definitely did not want that. Thank God, today the jealous git would have even more fuel for his…err…jealous gitness. Once Ron stopped talking to him because of the goblet of fire incident, he could officially sever all ties with the little snitch, and act like he had been the offended party.

Dumbledore began the process, announcing Krum and Fleur as champions of their respective schools. Hogwarts cheered as Cedric became its champion, and then silenced completely when a fourth paper emerged from the Goblet.

Harry smirked, _showtime!_

Dumbledore grabbed the paper in his hand, appearing disconcerted. Nobody spoke. The headmaster opened the paper, everyone held their breaths "Harry…Harry Potter"

The reaction was immediate. Ron turned an unusual shade of red, bordering on purple, people glared at him, the Champions were dumb-struck, the teachers glared as well, some fan-girls (Ginny among them) swooned, and Hermione grasped his hand, her eyes wide with shock and obvious fear for his safety.

He did not want a repeat of the past time so he merely stood up, and proclaimed, in a loud, clear voice "I, Harry James Potter, swear on my life and magic that I did not place my name on the Goblet of Fire, nor did I **ask** anyone to do it for me." He had thought carefully about the wording of the oath. He hadn't asked Moody to place his name on it, he had **ordered **him to. Seeing that he hadn't died on the spot, everyone's outrage was replaced by shock and concern.

"We're all glad to hear that Mr. Potter" stated the Headmaster, appearing relieved "But if you could please come here."

Harry shrugged and nodded. Hermione was still gripping his arm tightly "Don't worry, love" he soothed her "Everything will be alright."

She seemed to be appeased and let go, and Harry marched towards the room where the rest of the Champions were found.

Everyone looked at him with surprised when he entered. But why was Fleur smiling at him?

"Vhat are you doin' here?" asked Krum. His tone wasn't mean, simply confused.

Harry just shrugged "It appears that my name has been placed in the Goblet of Fire without my knowing it" at their looks of disbelief he sighed "I swear on my life and magic that I, Harry James Potter did not place my name in the Goblet, nor did I ask anyone to do it for me."

"Well, this is terrible then. You're three years younger, why would anyone do this?" Cedric asked, with concern.

"Your guess is as good as mine" lied Harry.

Just then, Dumbledore, the other headmasters, Bagman and Crouch stepped in, looking concerned more than anything else.

"Well" stated Crouch "If Harry here didn't do it, then who did? Who would do a prank such as this? Not to mention, the skill that would be needed to make Hogwarts have two champions…" he trailed off, suddenly looking at Dumbledore strangely.

Karkaroff and Madame Maxime refrained from saying anything, but also appeared to regard Dumbledore suspiciously.

_Oh this is priceless!, _thought Harry, _They think Dumbledore confounded the Goblet to give Hogwarts more chances to win. _

Now, he didn't exactly hate the Headmaster. He knew the old fool really did think everything he did (aka- stealing some of his funds to fund the Order and getting him engaged to Ginny) was in the end to ensure his own survival. And he knew from experience that Dumbledore had never tried to take anymore than was absolutely necessary for the Order. Still… you mess with Harry Potter, even with good intentions in mind… and you were in for it. So Harry felt an extreme sense of satisfaction at this. The headmaster still had much to account for, of course, but this was a good start. And he wouldn't make him pay _too _much.

"Anyways" stated Bagman "Cutting the air of tension in the air. What are we to do?"

"Well, it's obvious" stated Karkaroff, obviously displeased "The Goblin is a binding contract. Harry must participate in the tournament."

Harry knew this was rubbish. He could nullify the contract simply by proving that the name that had been submitted wasn't in his own handwriting, these fools were just too upset and on edge to think of that. But being in the tournament served his purpose, so sighed and said "Guess I don't have much of a choice, then?"

Crouch looked almost sorry for him "Afraid not, young man"

Harry smirked inwardly. The judges apologized to Harry (much to his inner satisfaction), and left the room, followed by Karkaroff, Mme. Maxime and Dumbledore, who looked as if they were to engage in a deep discussion.

Harry was left alone with the other Champions. "Well" he began "Best of luck then" and he stretched his hand.

Cedric and Krum shook it firmly, but Fleur pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek. He was too stunned to prevent it, and merely stared at her curiously afterwards, attempting to hide his outrage (How DARE anyone but Hermione touch him in such an intimate manner! Oh God, he really felt like taking a shower now). Fleur appeared confused at his lack of reaction, but smiled, and a light suddenly went off in Harry's head.

Of course! Veela's are always naturally attracted to the most alpha male around. Of course he was it! Harry tried not to be a bit smug at the thought. And this complicated matters. He certainly didn't want a Veela after him, and the worst part was that he couldn't even consider her at fault! It was in the girl's very nature! Fortunately, it was easy enough to solve. He would just have to prove to her that she had no hope with him since he was already deeply in love with another. Veelas were very respectful of truly strong bonds. She obviously didn't think he was in love with Hermione Granger. He made a note on the back of his head to make sure she learned this as soon as possible.

The Champions all excused themselves and went off in their respective directions. Harry quickly met with a very concerned Hermione, who proceeded to hyperventilate when he revealed to her that he was obliged to participate in the tournament.

"But…but it's so dangerous Harry!" she exclaimed "Wizards have died!"

Harry held her close "I'll just have to be very prepared then" he whispered "I have no intention of leaving you any time soon."

Hermione suddenly stiffened "Harry" her voice trembled "Why do you smell like another girl's perfume?"

_Bloody hell! No, no, don't even think it, Hermione! I only want you, no, no, NO!_

"Fleur hugged me" he hastened to explain "All of us shook hands and for some reason Fleur hugged me."

"Oh" stated Hermione simply.

He did not like this, he held her chin up "You do know I have no feelings for anyone but you and that I am absolutely immune to her Veela charms because of how much I love you, don't you?"

She suddenly looked wide-eyed "You love me?"

"No, Hermione, I tell you that I want to live the rest of my life without you and have children with you but I don't love you" he replied sarcastically.

"I'd just never really stopped to consider…" she looked torn, as if she wanted to smile, and cry at the same time.

Harry sighed and tried to appear calm, even though he was freaking out inside "You're not sure whether you love me or not, aren't you?"

She nodded.

"And you don't want to say it unless you mean it, am I right?"

Another nod.

Harry struggled not to cry or punch something "That's okay" _NO! OF COURSE IT'S NOT OKAY! "_Don't worry, you shouldn't say it unless you mean it. Just know that I do love you, so don't worry. Fleur's Veela charms have no effect on me"

She gave another nod and leaned into his chest. He held her tight, although deep inside he wanted to shake her. He wanted to cast the Imperius on her. He wanted to _make _her love him! He had gone so long without feeling anything. Ever since he'd come back, and he'd been back with her, his emotions came back with a vengeance. And knowing she perhaps didn't love him hurt. _So much!_

A dark feeling of rage overcame him and he stiffened. She must love him. She needed to love him. HE WOULD MAKE HER LOVE HIM! He suddenly found her lips, and he was kissing her with an intensity that he had never shown before, not even when he'd first snogged her in a jealous rage at the Quidditch Cup. He heard her whimper but he didn't care. He was going to taste all of her. He wouldn't stop until she loved him, until she was _his forever. _He bit her bottom lip, harshly, and the trailed down her neck, nipping so hard as to almost draw blood. His hands roamed her back and slid under her shirt, she gasped as if to protest, but he silenced her again with his mouth. She was his! SHE WAS HIS!

A sudden image of a naked Hermione struggling beneath him came to mind. Her soft brown hair falling in ringlets down her shoulders, her eyes looking up at him with _fear. _

No, he couldn't do this. Not to her. He could unleash this side with anyone but her.

He quickly let go and faked a smile, suddenly feeling guilty. He hadn't felt that particular emotion in a long time, and he didn't like it. He hated it. "I'll be back in a second, Hermione, I forgot something in my dormroom."

He turned off without stopping to hear what she had to say. He needed to get away from her. He needed to calm down. He made his way to the Room of Requirement, thankful for having remembered its existence, and wished for a place to vent out his emotions. What he found was nothing but a punching box. He punched and kicked and punched until his hands were bleeding. Then he fell on the floor and cried.

Hermione didn't love him. Hermione didn't love him.

Not only that, but he had almost _raped _her. If he hadn't had that flash, that image. If he hadn't seen those eyes brimming with fear, he would have done it… and she would never have forgiven him, he knew.

He suddenly hated himself. Hated himself for having these malicious thoughts, for almost doing something like that to the woman he loved. And yet another part hated himself for being this weak, for not being able to acquire her love, for being pathetic and emotional like he'd been before. For _crying _of all things. He hadn't shed a tear in _years! _

Why? Why? WHY?

He cried himself to sleep in the room, and didn't wake up till the wee hours of the morning, when he hastened to shower, grab his things and hurry to the Dining Hall, without waiting for Hermione as had been customary for them.

It was only minutes later that Hermione arrived and sat by him, looking like she hadn't slept a wink herself. He faked a smile and tried to appear happy to see her, but the pain in his chest resurfaced.

"Harry" she looked almost hysterical "Where were you last night? You didn't come back after you said you would. Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

He looked at her sheepishly "I'm sorry Hermione, I was feeling tired, the stress of the day got to me, and I fell asleep"

She looked skeptical but didn't push the subject.

"You didn't wait for me either" she mumbled quietly, as she sat next to him. There was a hint of hurt in her eyes.

He pretended not to heard and grabbed her plate, piling up her favorite foods in it, then handed it to her.

"And Harry" she suddenly began "About last night…"

"Don't worry about it" he hastened to cut her off "I told you, you can just sort out your feelings. If you don't feel the same thing, I'll understand."

He smiled at her, but she knew that the smile did not reach his eyes. She sighed. She was so confused. For once in her young life, Hermione Jane Granger was at a loss of what to do.

**So that's it guys. I expect the next chapter will be posted shortly. Thanks for reading and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. I love hearing your opinions, and it's always nice to hear what you have to say. Until next time! **


	9. Chapter 9

Hello guys. Well, I miraculously logged in today, only to find my e-mail flooded with requests to continue this story, as well as plain old questions wondering whether it was permanently on hiatus. The answer to this is no, this story will not be permanently on hiatus. The reason I haven't written in months is that I'm studying at boarding school, in the middle of absolutely nowhere (seriously, I'm in a 500-person town in the middle of the mountains) and have therefore very limited internet access. The only reason I'm even writing this now is that I'm on holiday with a friend, but I don't have my laptop with me, where the chapters I've written, but haven't been able to upload are.

When should you finally expect a new chapter then? Early July, that's when I return home, and stay home, so a one-year-long hiatus will hopefully not happen again. I apologize for not letting all of you know this sooner, but as I said, I0m pretty much isolated from the modern world. I appreciate the encouragement I've received and well, hopefully you'll continue reading my story once I finally start posting again.

All the best to all of you!


	10. Chapter 10

_Well, here it is guys, as promised. The hiatus is over and I'm now officially updating again. I know it took a couple months longer than I had promised, but my plans changed a bit unexpectedly. Anyways, here it is and sorry for the long wait. _

There was a loud cackling sound that resonated across the old manor. A cruel and hoarse noise, half a laugh, half a cry, that sent shivers up Wormtail's spine.

"What… what is the matter, my Lord?" the former marauder did not like this. Not one bit. Ever since the Dark Lord had announced that he intended to do something about Harry Potter, Wormtail had been quite uneasy. They had devised a plan perfectly. Even had Crouch take up a post as a Hogwarts Professor, and everything seemed to be going along smashingly. But then the small, baby-like (and VERY ugly at that) creature had declared that, not only had he always shared some sort of link with Harry Potter, but that, ever since a few weeks back, it had progressively grown stronger and stronger. Wormtail did not know whether to believe this, but he was much too scared to question his lord's statements. According to his master, something had changed within Harry Potter. Something big. And it was up to Wormtail to find out whether this sudden change could jeopardize his master's plans.

He had been ordered to find someone that could keep an eye out for Harry Potter, but this had proved to be nearly impossible. With the Dark Lord's still unnanounced return, most former death eaters would be hard-pressed to allow their sons or daughters to become spies for someone of whose power they were now uncertain. And those few who would have once jumped at the chance were now in Azkaban, courtesy of one Harry Potter, and their off-spring carefully watched by other relatives. Draco Malfoy would have once been the perfect choice, but now, firmly guarded by his mother, who had always refused to take the mark and now refused to follow in her husband's wishes, he was no longer an option. Wormtail feared that, having failed in his task, his master's deranged laugh was now indicative of his own bleak future prospects.

He was very surprised, then, when the deformed creature's "lips" contorted into a grimace that, he could only guess, attempted to be a smile "The little boy thinks he's got it all figured out, doesn't he?".

Wormtail was momentarily relieved to discover that apparently he was not to suffer for now, but soon appeared confused at his master's words "The boy…sir?"

The vile creature wheezed a response "He is in great turmoil. I know not why, because such a thing had never happened before, despite my best efforts, but I was able to see glimpses of Harry Potter's mind. My best guess is that he is very distressed, which has caused his mental defenses to weaken, and our link to become stronger" he paused, appearing contemplative (or as contemplative as a vile, babyish-monkeyish-snakeyish creature can appear to be), and proceeeded to explain "I could not understand it all. I saw bits and pieces that seemed out of place, as if they did not belong. The boy might be a seer, but I can't be sure. What I did understand was one thing" at this, the creature fixed its gaze on Wormtail "He knows of our plans. He understands what will happen if he reaches the trophy at the very end."

Since such a long and elaborate speech was hard on its body, the creature began to cough violently, and Wormtail hurried to fetch it a glass of water. Once his master had been properly hydrated, the former marauder proceeded to listen with rapt attention.

"We must make other arrangements, and quick and discreetly. If the boy is a seer, we must tread carefully, so that he doesn't predict our plans again. We cannot be sure that Crouch can be trusted, some of the images I saw… I do not know how to interpret them, but it is better to err on the side of caution."

"So, then, what will we do, My Lord?" asked the rat-like man.

Voldemort grinned ferally, a gesture made even more sinister by the body he occupied "Oh, I believe it's time to demand payment of a certain life-debt, Wormtail… I believe it's high time we payed a visit to an old friend. High time indeed…"

… … … lll llll … … … …

It was obvious to everyone at Hogwarts that their resident Golden Couple was acting rather strangely.

They continued to walk to classes, hand in hand. Harry would always wait for Hermione before heading over to the Great Hall and carried her books everywhere, despite her very adamant protests, and they were always seen studying and doing their homework together. But where there had once been excited whispering, there was now only occasional murmurs. Where there once had been small smiles, there were only nods of acknowledgement. And their now-famous silent communication had become non-existent, as they rarely met each other's eyes anymore.

None were more aware of this change than the Golden Couple itself, and yet they refused to acknowledge the source of their discomfort.

Harry had tried, really really tried to let go of what had happened. He hadn't seriously expected Hermione to fall in love with him right away. Heck, when he'd first come back, he wasn't even sure he could get her to fall for him at all. He knew he was irrational in his hopes that Hermione would have genuinely fallen in love with him by now. He also knew he really needed to speak to her and apologize for his behavior. Because being kissed so forcefully and then abandoned for the night must have hurt her, he knew at least that much. Something had changed since that day, and their usual easiness around each other had been drastically diminished.

Hermione, for her part, was more confused than she'd ever been. Love? How could she know she was in love? Hell, how did Harry know he was really in love with her? And also… that night. There had been something amiss that night. When Harry had grabbed her so forcefully… just for a moment… she'd been genuinely scared. Then he'd turned around and ran, and when he hadn't come back, even when he said he would… she couldn't even describe the feeling. Betrayed, perhaps? And what was worse: she just couldn't get that smell off of her thoughts! The smell of Harry covered in another girl's perfume! It was irrational, she knew, so very much, because Harry worshipped the ground she walked on, and yet she couldn't help the sick feeling in her stomach every time she remembered.

They both knew they needed to speak to each other about it, but neither could make the first move.

Furthermore, the clock was ticking, and the first task was looming nearer and nearer, and they hadn't even discussed what Harry would do then.

One particular Friday afternoon found them lounging around in the common room, sitting close to each other but not quite touching, which spoke volume for the state of their relationship. Anyone who'd seen them during the first few days together could attest to the fact that Harry never seemed able to take his hands off of her, which had seemed downright odd, considering the guy rarely even high-fived others.

"We really should devise a strategy Harry. I don't know how, since we don't even know what you're facing, but you should, I don't know, just train generally and be prepared for everything. I know you became so much more powerful during the holidays, but people have died during this tournament Harry, and the others are older and…"

Harry, who'd pretty much become completely submissive since the "incident" (he hated it, especially after being used to getting what he wanted and when he wanted, but he didn't know how else to show Hermione he was no danger, and the guilt, damn his remaining nobility, was killing him inside), forced a smile "Don't worry love, I'll be fine."

"How on Earth can you say that Harry?"

"Just because, I mean, you said it yourself, I got stronger during the summer and…"

"You don't even know what you'll be facing!"

"Of course I do, I'm facing a dragon and getting one of its eggs."

"…What?"

_Shit! _That had been a slip of the tongue. Harry hadn't been around Hagrid that much lately, and therefore he hadn't technically found out about the dragons in this timeline, and hadn't thought of telling Hermione.

"I…I meant…"

"How on Earth would you know that you're facing dragons Harry? And more importantly, why did you not feel the need to tell me?" she was raising her voice now, and Harry was at a loss of what to do.

"It…it slipped my mind love. You see, a few nights ago I couldn't sleep and I went to see Hagrid, and he was acting very strange you see and…"

"A few _days _ago! Meaning you've had me worrying about how to breach the subject with you for days and thinking of all the possibilities, while you've…"

"It really did slip my mind Hermione, I swear!" Harry was practically counting to ten in his mind, he wasn't used to anybody raising his voice at him anymore, but he couldn't possibly lose his temper with Hermione again. Never again. And he wouldn't compel her; he realized now that he simply couldn't do that, as much as he wanted to.

"How on Earth could something like _that _slip your mind?"

"I…I don't know, I've just, we haven't spoken that much lately and…"

"We speak every day Harry!"

"You know what I mean Hermione, don't pretend you don't."

"Oh, so now this is all my fault, is it?"

"Stop putting words in my mouth!"

It was as if all those days of pent-up guilt, worry and frustration were coming up all at once, and Hermione couldn't handle it anymore "So then, what's your brilliant strategy for fighting a _dragon _of all things? And you better have one!"

"Of course I do! I'm gonna accio my firebolt and…"

"Since when do you know how to do a summoning spell?"

"I learned it over the summer. Anyways, I'm going to summon my firebolt and then I'll just get the egg."

Hermione was officially gawking. "So let me see if I get this straight" she said, more to herself than to him "You are going to climb atop your broom, and try to outmaneuver a _dragon, _a magical creature that is quite tall, breathes fire, can fly, and will probably be quite pissed off that you're gonna be stealing one of its eggs… did I get that right?"

Harry had the grace to look sheepish "Umm… yes?"

Hermione stomped her foot, actually _stomped her foot _and Harry had to control the urge to laugh because he found it absolutely adorable. He would have hugged her because of the sheer cuteness of it all, were it not for the fact that their relationship was still in a rather uncomfortable and awkward phase, which he did not like at all.

Seeing him stifle a laugh seemed to only incense her further "You know what Harry? You're unbelievable!" and she headed for the door.

"What? Wait, Hermione, where are you going?"

"Somewhere that isn't here because I can't stand you right now!"

And so with one last huff she left, leaving a bewildered, confused and increasingly frustrated Harry behind. This whole business of caring for someone again? So not his cup of tea.

Hermione, for her part, wandered around the castle, her feet walking with determination but heedless of a destination. It wasn't until she arrived at the library that she realized what she wanted to do, and she couldn't help but slap herself on the forehead. "Even when I'm mad at him, I just have to help him, don't I?" she mumbled.

And thus she made her way to the magical creatures section, where she proceeded to start browsing through every book on dragons known to mankind. After two hours or so, she still hadn't found any solution that satisfied her, and she sighed loudly.

"Vot are you researching, if I may ask?"

She turned around in surprise, and was greeted by none other than Viktor Krum, the international Quidditch superstar that she'd seen play just this summer. Now that she thought about it, hadn't Harry gotten really jealous then? Funny, she couldn't remember all that well what had happened. And that _had_ been their first kiss, it wasn't like her to be vague on the details. She frowned.

"Oh, I am sorry, I seem to haf disturbed you."

Hermione realized that Viktor must have misinterpreted her confusion as annoyance and was quick to shake her head "No, no, sorry, I was just thinking about something else. As for research, well, I'm not sure I could tell you. I'm trying to help my boyfriend out, with the first task."

He frowned, but she couldn't tell whether it was because of something she said, or the fact that he saw the titles of the books she'd been reading, most of them referencing dragons in some way or another. He lowered his voice "So Harry Potter knows of da' third task as vell?"

Hermione looked alarmed and slightly miffed "How do _you _know about it?"

Krum shrugged, he seemed almost apologetic "The headmaster, he knew, I do not know how, but he told me."

"That hardly seems fair."

"How did Harry Potter find out then?"

Hermione tried to form an answer to this, but just couldn't. She chose to believe that it was just the stress of her fight with Harry that was making her usually witty responses less effective than usual. Instead, she decided to change the topic. "What are you doing here, if I might ask? Came to do some research of your own?"

Krum's lips twitched slightly, and she guessed that was probably an attempt at a smile "No… I do like reading but I do not do it all that much. I do not haf' da' time anymore. I just come here because it is…quiet."

She smiled slightly, feeling pity for him. It reminded her of Harry, how he hated his fame. Or at least, how he used to… he really seemed much more at ease with it lately, now that she thought about it. Krum seemed almost embarrassed but glanced towards the chair beside her "I… vould you mind if I join you? I vould like the company."

Hermione smiled and nodded, clearing some space on the table for him. This was nice, she decided, she preferred having the company. Harry had usually come with her before their first fight, and they would research together. He still came with her at times, but their normally comfortable silences had become awkward. This was quite alright, on the other hand.

Harry chastised himself for not thinking of the library sooner. He'd been looking for Hermione all throughout Hogwarts, intent on apologizing for whatever it was that he'd said that set her off. He wasn't sure what exactly it had been, but he didn't really care, all he wanted was to keep Hermione happy and to make things go back to the way they used to be, if he had to take the blame for it, so be it. He knew he wouldn't be able to take much more of this tenseness and awkwardness for long. For one, they'd barely even kissed since the "incident" and Harry was a teenage boy with a lot of repressed sexual desires, all centered on Hermione, so he was seriously frustrated. But, and much more importantly, he missed their closeness and the way she would hug him and comfort him and just make him feel so alive and so cared for with her mere presence.

He made it to the library entrance and froze.

There, sitting together on the same table, were Hermione and Krum. Viktor Krum. The same guy who'd taken Hermione to the Yule ball the first time around. Her first kiss. And they both seemed to be chatting happily. His first impulse, of course, was to strut over there, grab Hermione forcefully by the arm, shoot daggers at Krum, tell him not to mess with his future wife and all-around soulmate, and steal Hermione's lips in a soul-searing kiss… but he couldn't. Something stopped him.

_Remember what happened when you got all jealous and angry? The look of terror on her face? Do you really want to see that again? _

He remembered it then. Those brown eyes, usually shining and sparkling when directed at him, darkened by confusion and terror. That snapped him out of his jealous haze. Controlling himself, and before he could change his mind, he turned around, and ran.


End file.
